Comments on: Latest hot coffee lawsuit data points

By: Hot coffee data point: Thomas Skaggs v. Pilot Travel Center

Hot coffee data point: Thomas Skaggs v. Pilot Travel Center — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:45:53 +0000

[…] Overlawyered readers know, that just ain’t so. The recommended serving temperature of coffee can cause third-degree burns; coffee-drinkers […]

By: Deoxy

Deoxy — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:53:16 +0000

“should the restaurant serve hot coffee, or 175 F coffee?”

They should serve hot coffee – 175 F is too cool. Having worked food service, I can tell you that my manager wanted the coffee at 190 F, because that’s the CORRECT temperature to serve at. If the coffee got too cold (like, say 175 F), we THREW IT AWAY and made more.

By: b

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 07:05:29 +0000

I thought the problem was the specific temperature. I agree most should know that spilling coffee on oneself is bad, but should the restaurant serve hot coffee, or 175 F coffee? Why risk the liability in this day and age?

[TF: All competent restaurants brew and serve their coffee at a temperature comparable to or higher than McDonald’s. (Low-end $30 home coffeemakers do not, but that’s because they cannot reach required temperatures, rather than for safety reasons; the high-end $100 coffeemakers brew and store at the higher temperature.) They do this because coffee tastes better when prepared and served this way, and people prefer hot coffee. Even coffee at a lower temperature will burn. Any story to the contrary is an invented theory by the plaintiffs’ bar.]

By: tsiroth

tsiroth — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 23:47:33 +0000

When my husband was a toddler he was at a children’s reading at the public library with his family. He pulled a cup of hot coffee down off a table onto himself.

His polyester clothing was melted onto his skin, and 30 years later he still has visibile scars on his chest and arm.

No one sued the library.