Degreaser Mistaken for Sugar Leaves Three Chili's Diners With Chemical Burns

Degreaser Mistaken for Sugar Leaves Three Chili's Diners With Chemical Burns

A round of margaritas turns into a medical emergency

Three customers at a Chili's Grill & Bar in Forest City, North Carolina, suffered chemical burns inside and around their mouths on Wednesday, October 28, after drinking margaritas mixed with an industrial cleaning chemical. The diners noticed something was wrong immediately after their first sips, alerted the staff, and left to seek medical attention. A Foothills Health District spokesperson said the victims were treated at an area urgent care, though the severity of the burns was not disclosed.

Health officials trace the cause to a degreaser-sugar mix-up

According to preliminary findings released October 29 by the Foothills Health District, the cocktails were prepared with a granulated industrial degreaser that an employee mistook for sugar or salt. The white granular substance had been used to prep the bar's margarita station ahead of lunch service, contaminating the drinks served to the three customers. Two restaurant employees who tasted the mixture also reported symptoms after exposure, bringing the total number of people affected to five.

An unlabeled container carried the error from Monday to Wednesday

The chain of errors began Monday, when a restaurant worker received the granulated degreasing chemical from a contract worker who was power-washing the building's exterior. The employee poured the chemical into an unlabeled container, which was brought inside and left sitting in the bar area. On Wednesday morning, a different employee preparing the bar for lunch service found the container, assumed its contents were sugar, and used it on the margarita station. The restaurant sits in Forest City, roughly a 65-mile drive west of uptown Charlotte.

Permit suspended, then reinstated after cleanup

County health inspectors immediately suspended the restaurant's food service permit and ordered a full sanitization of the facility. By Thursday morning, environmental health specialists had completed their investigation and reinstated the permit after determining the restaurant met all applicable food safety requirements. Health director Jason Masters said the episode underscored the importance of proper chemical labeling, storage, and handling in food service establishments, as required by the North Carolina Food Code.

What comes next: liability and chain-wide safeguards

Officials have described the contamination as accidental, and no criminal inquiry has been announced. Open questions include whether the injured customers will pursue civil claims and whether the chain will tighten rules on accepting, labeling, and storing chemicals near food and bar areas. For regulators, the case is a textbook warning: a single unlabeled container, left in the wrong place for two days, was enough to turn an ordinary lunch service into a chemical-burn scare affecting five people.