§ 12-681 — Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Defective and unreasonably dangerous" does not include a food product that is otherwise fit for human consumption and nourishment.

2. "Food product" means any product that is grown, prepared, provided, served or sold and that is primarily intended for human consumption and nourishment.

3. "Manufacturer" means a person or entity that designs, assembles, fabricates, produces, constructs or otherwise prepares a product or component part of a product before its sale to a user or consumer, including a seller owned in whole or significant part by the manufacturer or a seller owning the manufacturer in whole or significant part.

4. "Product" means the individual product or any component part of the product that is the subject of a product liability action.

5. "Product liability action" means any action brought against a manufacturer or seller of a product for damages for bodily injury, death or property damage caused by or resulting from the manufacture, construction, design, formula, installation, preparation, assembly, testing, packaging, labeling, sale, use or consumption of any product, the failure to warn or protect against a danger or hazard in the use or misuse of the product or the failure to provide proper instructions for the use or consumption of any product.

6. "Product safety analysis or review" means any investigation, inquiry, review, evaluation or other means by which a person or entity seeks to determine, calculate, predict, estimate, evaluate or report the safety or health effects of the use of any of its products, systems, services or processes. Product safety analysis or review includes an analysis or review by a component manufacturer of the safety and health effects of component parts in end products. A product safety analysis or review may be conducted by employees of the person or entity or by consultants engaged specifically to perform the analysis or review.

7. "Reasonable remedial measures" means actions taken as a result of a product safety analysis or review and intended to improve the safety of products, systems, services or processes or to lessen the likelihood of a safety-related accident. These actions include:

(a) Modifications to the product, system, service or process.

(b) Changes in quality assurance procedures or policies.

(c) Modifications made to the design or method of manufacturing, to manufacturing equipment or to the testing of the product, system, service or process.

(d) Changes or additions to training programs or safety education programs.

(e) Personnel or human resources measures related to the product, system, service or process.

(f) The use or modification of warnings, notices or changes to owner manuals and related materials.

(g) The recall of products.

8. "Reasonably foreseeable alteration, modification, use or consumption" means an alteration, modification, use or consumption of the product that would be expected of an ordinary and prudent purchaser, user or consumer and that an ordinary and prudent manufacturer should have anticipated.

9. "Seller" means a person or entity, including a wholesaler, distributor, retailer or lessor, that is engaged in the business of leasing any product or selling any product for resale, use or consumption.

10. "State of the art" means the technical, mechanical and scientific knowledge of manufacturing, designing, testing or labeling the same or similar products that was in existence and reasonably feasible for use at the time of manufacture.