THE Court of Appeals has thrown out a civil case for damages filed by a woman who claimed she suffered a nervous breakdown due to siomai poisoning at a fast-food restaurant.
In a December 27, 2024 ruling, the appellate court’s Special Ninth Division junked the petition of Elianita Melendres seeking the reversal of a ruling by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court rejecting her claim for P600,000 in actual, moral and exemplary damages, plus attorney’s fees, against the franchisor and operator of a Chowking branch at Redemptorist Road in Paranaque City.
In dismissing Melendres’ claim, the CA, through Associate Justice Selma Palacio-Alaras, said she failed to present evidence the siomao she purchased was poisonous and that there could have been no other cause or causes of her poisoning.
“Even if she was hospitalized, the evidence she presented failed to prove that the alleged bacteria found in the siomai was present when she ate it,” the appellate court said, adding there was a lengthy interval between the time that she claimed she suffered food poisoning and the laboratory examination.
It added that this lengthy time could have exposed the siomao to other materials and surfaces.
Melendres sued franchisor Fresh N’ Famous Foods, Inc. (FNFFI) and branch operator Foodwealth Inc. before the Taguig RTC, claiming she vomited and suffered severe stomach pain after eating a siomai that was part of the meal she ordered in 2006 from the fast-food joint.
She told the court she put the remaining siomao that she ordered in the receipt paper for laboratory examination. Laboratory tests later showed the siomai tested positive for diphtheroids, a poisonous substance.
She said she suffered nervous breakdowns and anxiety, which she added affected her garments business, aside from being hospitalized for food poisoning.
But the FNFFI and Foodwealth said there was no merit to her claim for damages, adding the presence of the poisonous substance may have come after she put the siomai in the receipt paper.
They added the siomao remained with Melendres for more than 18 hours before it was subjected to a laboratory test.
The appellate court sided with FNFFI and Foodwealth, adding that Melendrez failed to present evidence showing their participation in serving the siomai.
The CA also held that Melendres failed to present evidence showing there could have been no other cause of poisoning as she admitted eating another meal before ordering and eating the allegedly poisonous siomai.
“Absent proof of appellees’ direct link in the alleged food poisoning, Elianita Melendres must be considered to have suffered a wrong without damage, which does not constitute a cause of action as ‘damages are merely part of the remedy allowed for the injury caused by a breach or wrong,’” the CA said.