Three customers at a Chili's Grill & Bar in Forest City, North Carolina, suffered chemical burns in and around their mouths on Wednesday, October 28, after drinking margaritas that had been prepared with an industrial degreaser mistaken for sugar or salt, the Foothills Health District said in its preliminary findings. Two restaurant employees who then tasted the substance also reported similar symptoms, bringing the number of people affected to five.

Source: Fox News Digital via Internews Cast

How a cleaning chemical reached the bar

Health officials traced the mistake back to Monday, October 26. A contracted worker gave a restaurant employee an industrial degreaser, and the employee placed it in a container with no label. The unmarked container was brought inside the restaurant and left in the bar area, where it sat for two days.

On Wednesday, an employee preparing the bar for lunch service found the container, believed its contents were sugar or salt, and used the chemical while setting up the margarita station. Soon after the restaurant opened, the three customers drank the contaminated margaritas and, in the health district's words, "immediately experienced discomfort and chemical burns in and around their mouths." When the customers alerted staff, two employees tasted the substance themselves and developed similar reactions. The affected customers sought medical care.

Permit suspended — then reinstated

The Foothills Health District, which covers Rutherford County, suspended the restaurant's food service permit while it investigated. The permit was reinstated on Thursday, October 29, after specialists determined the restaurant met all other food safety standards. The health district's findings so far are described by the agency itself as preliminary.

Chili's, in a statement to Fox News Digital, said: "We are aware of an isolated incident at our restaurant in Forest City, North Carolina that resulted in injuries to two of our guests and Team Members. Our team took immediate action to support those affected and avoid any further injuries. We are actively investigating the circumstances related to this incident as the health and wellbeing of our guests and Team Members remain our top priority." The company's wording counts the injured differently from the health district, which reported three customers burned and two employees symptomatic — both versions are set out here so readers can see exactly where the accounts differ.

The rule this incident broke

Jason Masters, health director of the Foothills Health District, said in a statement: "This incident highlights the importance of proper chemical labeling, storage, and handling in food service establishments, as required by the North Carolina Food Code, to prevent chemical contamination and protect public health." The district reminded food service operators across North Carolina that all chemicals must be clearly labelled and stored away from areas where food is prepared or handled — the two failures at the centre of this case, on the district's preliminary account, were an unlabelled container and storage in the bar area itself.

Forest City is a town in Rutherford County in western North Carolina, and the restaurant is a routine lunch and dinner stop for local families and for drivers passing through the area. No further illnesses beyond the five people described have been announced by the health district. What happens next runs on two tracks: the health district will complete its investigation of how the degreaser entered the bar, and Chili's says its own internal investigation is continuing. Anyone who drank a margarita at the restaurant on Wednesday and develops mouth pain or burns should seek medical advice promptly — chemical burns to the mouth are the injury the health district documented in this case.