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Chili’s Customers Suffer Chemical Burns After Margaritas Were Made With Cleaning Chemical, Not Sugar
Patrons of a Chili’s restaurant in North Carolina got a dangerous extra ingredient in their margaritas that sent them to a nearby emergency room with chemical burns on their mouths.
According to a press release from the Foothills Health District, three patrons of the chain’s Forest City, North Carolina, location had to go straight from the restaurant to the nearby Urgent Care, which happened to be right next door, after ordering margaritas and feeling a burning sensation around their mouths.
It turns out that the day before, a contractor who was power washing the exterior of the building gave an employee a granulated degreasing chemical. That employee put it in an unlabeled container that was mistakenly left in the restaurant’s bar area. The following morning, as another employee was preparing for lunch, he or she mistook it for sugar and used the granulated cleaning chemical to prep the margarita station.
As soon as the first three customers ordered the beverages, they experienced chemical burns. After that, two employees taste-tested the affected margaritas and experienced similar symptoms.
Once the Chili’s informed the Foothills Health Department, it was shut down immediately while a complete washing, cleaning, rinsing and sanitization of affected areas of the restaurant was done. The incident happened on October 28 and, after a thorough inspection by the department, it was given the go-ahead to reopen and resume normal operations one day later on October 29.
Although the Chili’s location where the mishap occurred has been cleared to open, some members of the community are raising an eyebrow. One regular customer, Levonne Baker, told News13, “I was beyond surprised and almost scared.”
He added, “It’s like a Wes Craven story that’s coming to life. I mean, you don’t get margaritas that can burn your skin.”
Health officials concluded their statement by saying that the incident highlights the importance of labeling everything within a restaurant to avoid employees assuming anything about a product that will be served to customers.
