Facts
- Priscilla D. Webster ate lunch at Blue Ship Tea Room, Inc., a Boston restaurant, with her sister and aunt.
- After being told clam chowder was unavailable, she ordered a cup of fish chowder described as milky and containing chunks of haddock and potatoes.
- While eating several spoonfuls, she felt an object lodge in her throat and could not swallow or clear it.
- A fish bone was found lodged in her esophagus; she required medical treatment including esophagoscopies and suffered injury.
- Webster sued for personal injuries, alleging breach of the implied warranty that restaurant food is fit for consumption under the merchantability standard.
- An auditor (nonfinal findings) and then a jury in Superior Court found for Webster.
- The restaurant sought appellate review by exceptions, including denial of a directed verdict and denial of entry of judgment under leave reserved.
Issues
- Whether the presence of a fish bone in fish chowder renders the chowder unmerchantable and unfit for ordinary consumption, breaching the implied warranty of merchantability under U.C.C. § 2-314 as adopted in Massachusetts.
- Whether, on these facts, the defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law despite the plaintiff’s verdict.
Decision
- The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts sustained the defendant’s exceptions.
- The court held that a fish bone in fish chowder did not, as a matter of law, breach the implied warranty of merchantability.
- The plaintiff’s verdict was set aside and judgment entered for the restaurant.
Legal Principles
- Under U.C.C. § 2-314, food sold for consumption carries an implied warranty of merchantability, measured by fitness for the ordinary purposes of the goods.
- Merchantability for prepared food is evaluated in light of the nature of the food and the reasonable expectations of ordinary consumers.
- A naturally occurring constituent that consumers should reasonably anticipate in the dish (e.g., a fish bone in fish chowder) does not make the food unwholesome or unfit for ordinary consumption.
- The implied warranty does not require removal of inherent, expected risks where doing so would materially change the customary character of the dish.
- Materials that are truly foreign to the food are treated differently from natural constituents in assessing warranty breach.
Conclusion
Because fish chowder is commonly understood to carry a possibility of fish bones, the court concluded that the chowder remained fit for its ordinary purpose and the restaurant did not breach the implied warranty of merchantability.