Defective product and Consumer Protection Act

The Court of Appeal has held that a bottle of dishwasher powder is not a defective product for the purposes of the Consumer Protection Act 1987. An infant became seriously ill after digesting dishwasher powder from a plastic bottle. The claim was pursued against the supermarket and the manufacturer of the bottle, on the basis that the product was defective as the cap was easier to detach than it should have been. The supermarket joined the infant’s mother to the action, alleging that the bottle had been left within his reach and the cap not fully screwed on.