Boneless chicken wings can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court rules

The Ohio Supreme Court decided Thursday that “‘boneless’” chicken wings do not have to be bone-free, ending a lawsuit filed after a man suffered medical issues after consuming a chicken bone while eating a boneless wing.

According to the court’s opinion, “Michael Berkheimer sued a restaurant, its food supplier, and a chicken farm after he suffered serious medical problems resulting from getting a chicken bone lodged in his throat while he was eating a ‘boneless wing’ served by the restaurant.”

“There is no breach of a duty when the consumer could have reasonably expected and guarded against the presence of the injurious substance in the food,” the court said in its decision. “And what the consumer could have reasonably expected is informed by the determination whether the injurious substance in the food is foreign to or natural to the food.”

The Ohio high court also said in its decision that when it comes to “the food item’s being called a ‘boneless wing,’ it is common sense that that label was merely a description of the cooking style.”

“A diner reading ‘boneless wings’ on a menu would no more believe that the restaurant was warranting the absence of bones in the items than believe that the items were made from chicken wings, just as a person eating ‘chicken fingers’ would know that he had not been served fingers,” the court’s decision reads. “The food item’s label on the menu described a cooking style; it was not a guarantee.”

However, three out of the seven justices in the case dissented, stating, “Does anyone really believe that the parents in this country who feed their young children boneless wings or chicken tenders or chicken nuggets or chicken fingers expect bones to be in the chicken?”

“Of course they don’t,” the justices stated. “When they read the word ‘boneless,’ they think that it means ‘without bones,’ as do all sensible people.”

The Hill has reached out to people representing Berkheimer, REKM, L.L.C., Wayne Farms, L.L.C., and Gordon Food Service, Inc.