cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17958592

Consumers cannot expect boneless chicken wings to actually be free of bones, a divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting claims by a restaurant patron who suffered serious medical complications from getting a bone stuck in his throat.

Michael Berkheimer was dining with his wife and friends at a wing joint in Hamilton, Ohio, and had ordered the usual — boneless wings with parmesan garlic sauce — when he felt a bite-size piece of meat go down the wrong way. Three days later, feverish and unable to keep food down, Berkeimer went to the emergency room, where a doctor discovered a long, thin bone that had torn his esophagus and caused an infection.

In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court said Thursday that “boneless wings” refers to a cooking style, and that Berkheimer should’ve been on guard against bones since it’s common knowledge that chickens have bones. The high court sided with lower courts that had dismissed Berkheimer’s suit.

  • On our restaurant law class (some 25 yrs ago) basically if food inherently has an item that isn’t usually eaten (olive pits, fruit stones, bones, etc.) the patrón still needs to take caution that the food may still contain these items.

    On the other hand, once a dish is sold to someone, then everything served is sold; the example given was if you were served a salad with the cooks engagement ring in it, it’s yours, because you bought it.