SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KSTU) – A woman is recovering after being served sweet tea that was tainted with a toxic cleaning chemical.
Authorities released surveillance footage from Dickey’s Barbecue that was taken on Aug. 10.
Jan Harding was the first customer to purchase sweet tea that day.
Officials say the drink had accidentally been mixed with a cleaning chemical.
After just one sip, Harding nearly died from severe chemical burns to her mouth, throat and esophagus.
“When you watch the footage, you can see that as soon as she takes a sip, immediately she knew something was wrong,” Harding’s attorney, Paxton Guymon, said.
The surveillance video shows Harding trying to wash out whatever was in the drink, not realizing that she had swallowed a toxic chemical.
Her husband found her learning over a counter in pain and went to find help.
The family told KSTU that a former employee of the restaurant had accidentally mixed the company’s fryer cleaner with the sugar because they looked the same.
However, Guymon says that mistake was made five weeks before Harding’s drink was made.
“Everyone at this location knew that this bucket of sugar contained contaminated cleaner, that it was dangerous, and that it wasn’t disposed of,” said Guymon.
The mixture was stored in the manager’s office.
On Aug. 10, an employee took seven scoops of the mixture and put it into a separate container, which he then took out into the restaurant.
Guymon says that employee worked for the corporation but not the local office.
“The store manager had quit the day before. Somebody needed to stop in and keep the place running. I don’t know what this person’s duties were. We haven’t been able to speak with him, but he was the one who put this lye based cleaner into the iced tea mix,” said Guymon.
Criminal charges are not being pursued against the company.
