These are the things these class-action lawyers would be wary of buying in Canada

Purchasing potentially defective products or experiencing unwanted side effects or harm are risks consumers always take. When it comes to shopping, class-action lawyers say they'd be careful when buying these items.

Purchasing potentially defective products or experiencing unwanted side effects or harm are risks consumers always take.

But they can hold companies accountable through class-action lawsuits, legal action undertaken on behalf of a number of complainants.

"For consumers, class action is an important way of providing them access to justice because usually in a consumer case the damages are relatively small and it doesn't make sense for an individual to take it on by themselves," said Linda Visser, partner with the class-action group at Siskinds Law Firm in London, Ont., in a video interview with CTVNews.ca.

"But the benefit of a class action is that you can group a large number of people together and it does make it economically feasible to bring some of these claims and it's a helpful mechanism to making companies accountable for any harms that they do to consumers."

Based on their experience in court, class-action lawyers often have a good sense of what types of products can be problematic, so CTVNews.ca asked for information on what they've learned.

When it comes to shopping, the class-action lawyers who spoke to CTVNews.ca said they would either avoid purchasing the following products, or be careful before buying them.

"I don't know if there are things I would never purchase, there's things I would be more thoughtful and careful about purchasing," Visser said.