Recently the Slim Fast shake company issued a nationwide product recall in order to avoid potential product liability lawsuits and informed American consumers that their liquid meal-replacement diet shakes may have been contaminated with a microorganism called bacillus cereus. Bacillus cereus is more of an irritant than a serious health threat, but it does cause unpleasant reactions such as diarrhea, vomiting and nausea.

What is more alarming about this contamination is the widespread voluntary recall Slim Fast engaged and which made absolutely no distinction between the different flavors, carton sizes, lot numbers or expiration dates. This means that the Slim Fast Corporation was not certain at what point in the chain of manufacturing the contamination occurred. In fact, Slim Fast completely halted its production of ready-to-drink meal replacement beverages in order to pinpoint the reason the bacillus cereus contamination occurred and to then take all measures necessary to prevent the same sort of contamination from occurring once more.

If for any reason you happen to have an old can of Slim Fast sitting in your cupboard that was manufactured before December 10, 2009 then be sure to get rid of it immediately and contact Slim Fast for reimbursement of that item. If you have recently consumed a Slim Fast shake that you fear may be contaminated be on the lookout for any signs of food poisoning. One type of food poisoning that occurs almost immediately after consuming the bacillus cereus microorganism causes vomiting and nausea for about one day. The second type of reaction to the bacillus cereus microorganism begins 6 to 21 hours after consumption and causes abdominal cramping, abdominal pain and watery diarrhea which should last no more than 24 hours.

This information about the Slim Fast product recall shines a light on how easy it is for large and trusted manufacturers to allow a defective product to enter into the consumer marketplace. While defective products might be the last thing you think about when shopping, the fact is that our global economy and international, multi-billion dollar goods import and export complex is too enormous to police effectively for high standards of health and safety. Getting food poisoning from a ready-to-drink beverage is merely inconvenient, but there are other more deadly bacteria and microorganisms that exist which can easily contaminate are most common household products.

Consumers must be vigilant and not only examine all products they purchase and consume but stay abreast of all product recalls. Anyone who feels they may have been the victim of injury from a defective product should contact the product liability lawyer immediately to discuss their options.