Off to Minneapolis this week for a lecture at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Food Science. I’ll be talking to professor Francisco Diez’s Food: Safety, Risks and Technology class. My lecture is titled “Consumers vs. Food Companies: Intersection of the Court System and Food Science.”

I plan a wide-ranging talk that touches on:

  1. The relationship and interaction between the tort system and food regulation;
  2. Basic principles of products liability law as it affects food;
  3. Three different types of food products claimants and how we respond to each;
  4. Why consumer claims matter to food companies;
  5. The importance of investigating agencies in determining the outcome of claims;
  6. The relationship between food-borne illness, home food preparation, organic food and locavores; and
  7. How lawyers use expert witnesses.

I’ll post the slides after the lecture.