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Jury Awards $14 Million to Florida Woman Over Nails Found in Bruster’s Ice Cream

The verdict spotlights franchise food-safety controls.

Overview

  • A Brevard County jury found Bruster’s Real Ice Cream liable and awarded about $14 million to Brandy Buckley for injuries from a contaminated cone.
  • Buckley bought a butter pecan waffle cone in Palm Bay on September 11, 2018, then unknowingly swallowed metal fragments, including at least one nail.
  • Hospital X-rays confirmed foreign metal in her body, surgeons removed some pieces, and she reports lasting health problems after not all fragments were retrieved.
  • Her lawsuit and trial testimony describe permanent harm, including neurological damage, loss of bodily functions, scarring, and infertility that ended plans for more children.
  • Plaintiffs showed jurors photos of the cone and a nail and argued that Bruster’s on-site mixing by “Certified Ice Cream Makers” failed, and her attorneys expect the company to appeal.