Court Rules Packaging Co. Breached KFC Contract by Supplying Flaming Chicken Containers

A federal court in Kentucky has determined as a matter of law that a company which tested, developed and approved paper packaging for customers buying KFC Popcorn chicken breached its contract because the containers caught fire while being microwaved. KFC U.S. Props., Inc. v. Paris Packaging, Inc., No. 09-00249 (W.D. Ky., decided February 25, 2010). So ruling, the court granted KFC’s motion for partial summary judgment. Additional details about the lawsuit appear in issue 299 of this Update.

According to the court, the parties’ contract specified that the packaging company would be responsible for ensuring the product was safe regardless of any standards, specifications or other information KFC provided. Because it was reasonably foreseeable that customers would microwave their KFC chicken in the paper box in which they took it home, the court held that the defendant breached its contract by providing unsafe packaging that was unfit for its intended and reasonably foreseeable uses.