Legal Question in Consumer Law in Massachusetts

Re: rat verterbrae found in peanuts

Well clearly the store (and others) have breached certain warranties and laws. You also might have grounds to support a demand letter, setting out those breaches and also describing any emotionally traumatic effect the incident might have caused. but the issue will boil down to whether you have any recognizable damages. That, in turn, would probably turn on the significance and degree of the emotional impact to you from the incident.

To ultimately prevail at trial on such claims, you need to prove some physical result flowing from the event. So whether or not you would have enough grounds to send a demand letter to the store seeking a settlement would be an a question of degree. Often, however, it may make sense to send the demand letter and see where, if anywhere, negotiations with the store would go. If it settles, terriffic. If not, you would then need to assess whether or not you would be up to pursuing a lawsuit and going through that process, which analysis can be informed by the positions (and defenses) staked out in the demand letter process.

Feel free to contact me for a free initial consultation to discuss if you have the basis for any claims.