Although most products on the market are perfectly safe, there are some made by negligent manufacturers which are a danger to the consumer. Ordinarily, the removal of these products from the market is the responsibility of the federal government. There are times, though, when regulatory agencies either lack the authority to act or simply fail to remedy the problem.

In these instances, when the manufacturer refuses to willingly correct the problem, legal prosecution is sometimes the only recourse afforded to the consumer. The three case examples below involve an unscrupulous Taiwanese foods manufacturer who knowingly distributed a dangerous candy in the United States. The FDA, without advanced warning of the problem, could not prevent the importation of this candy. As a result, choking incidents from konjac candies occurred nationwide.

The successful prosecution of the first of these cases, Enrile vs. Sheng Hsiang Jen Foods Co., Inc., led to the FDA's adoption of new laws governing import standards. Due in no small part to the effort's of the Enrile and other families to spotlight the dangers of this lethal product, the public outcry prompted the FDA to issue a nationwide recall of all knojac–based candies.