CHRISTIANA AMIHERE vs. COCA COLA BOTTLING CO. LTD

JUDGMENT In the celebrated English case of Donoghue v. Stephenson (1932] A.C. 562, H.L. where the English House of Lords was called upon to decide whether a manufacturer of a defective product was liable to the consumer who purchased and consumed portions of the product, Lord Atkin laid down the following legal principle at page 599 of the report: “A manufacturer of products, which he sells in such a form as to show that he intends them to reach the ultimate consumer in the form in which they left him with no reasonable possibility of intermediate examination, and with the knowledge that the absence of reasonable care in the preparation or putting up of the products, will result in an injury to the consumer's life or property, owes a duty to the consumer to take that reasonable care.” This was the beginning of holding manufacturers liable for defective products that have caused injury to consumers as a result of use or consumption of the product. The basis of this princip...