Chemical Milkshake from Dairy Queen Sends Boy to Hospital

A young boy from Colorado was taken to the hospital after complaints of a burning tongue sensation caused by a vanilla milkshake his mother bought him from a Thorton Dairy Queen. My Fox 8 reports that the milkshake had been tainted by a cleaning solution. Lisa Chase, the mother of the boy, said that she couldn’t even taste the ice cream in the shake and it was more like drinking a very strong cleanser.

Apparently, an employee had been soaking the vanilla syrup container in floor cleaner and degreaser concentrate when another Dairy Queen employee got a hold of it. Thinking the container was clean, the second employee went ahead and filled it with the syrup. The degreaser concentrate contained sodium hydroxide which can cause burns, vomiting and shock if ingested.

The owner of the Dairy Queen where the incident occurred said it was a terrible accident and that the employees involved were written up for not following the restaurant’s proper health procedures. The health department and poison control were also contacted.