The Snail in the Bottle
The spectacle of five Law Lords sitting in judgement on a dead snail in a ginger-beer bottle has its epic aspect. But the question raised—whether a manufacturer of food or drink is under legal duty to take reasonable care that the article is free from defects likely to cause injury to health—is of wide importance. Lord Atkin indeed expressed the view that none more important had ever occupied their Lordships in their judicial capacity. The public as consumer will be reassured to have an affirmative ruling on the point given by the highest tribunal in the land, and perhaps a little disconcerted that while three Law Lords concurred in that finding two others, no doubt on legal grounds peculiar to this case, dissented. A moment's reflection on the appalling consequences capable of accruing from any extensive negligence in the manufacture, cooking and service of foodstuffs is enough to justify the most rigorous enforce- ment of responsibility on everyone connected with the process, harsh though the legal judgements recorded may sometimes be. In this case the lady who became ill after drinking ginger-beer from the bottle containing the dead snail wins her appeal against the ruling of the lower Court.
Previous page
