A young Australian girl who suffered severe brain damage and was left paralysed by Salmonella food poisoning won a $10,000,000 ($10,369,000 U.S.) judgment against Kentucky Fried Chicken. The judgment (Samaan bht Samaan v Kentucky Fried Chicken Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 381) was published Saturday. Monika Samaan was seven years old when she suffered salmonella encephalopathy (a brain injury linked to food poisoning that also left her with a blood infection and septic shock) in October 2005. Several other family members also fell ill and they claimed Samaan’s injuries, which include severe cognitive, motor and speech impairment and spastic quadriplegia were caused by a KFC chicken Twister wrap. The Supreme Court ruled in the Monika’s and her family’s favor, finding that her sickness was caused by “a KFC Twister… consumed predominately by Monika and in lesser quantities by her family.” Justice Stephen Rothman said the chicken became contaminated “because of the failure of one or more employees of KFC” to follow proper preparation rules, which he described as “negligent”.
