THE NEW YORK TIMES: Margaritas rimmed with degreaser burn five patrons at North Carolina bar and grill

Five people suffered chemical burns after drinking margaritas rimmed with a white granulated substance misidentified as sugar at a Chili’s Grill & Bar in Forest City, North Carolina, a health official said.

The people who fell ill Wednesday were three customers of the popular US bar and restaurant chain and two staff members who appeared to have been burned largely on and around their mouths, Megan Rollins, a spokesperson at Foothills Health District, said in an interview Saturday.

She said they sustained the injuries after contact with a degreaser, which had been left in an unlabeled container near the bar.

The district, which is responsible for food safety, immediately dispatched environmental health specialists to investigate the restaurant, Jason Masters, the public health director at Foothills Health District, said in an email.

The Forest City Police Department could not be reached Saturday. It was unclear whether it had opened an investigation.

A representative for Chili’s said in a statement that the restaurant chain “took immediate action to support those affected and avoid further injuries.”

The chemical, which was not identified by name or brand, was brought into the Chili’s early October 26 by a contractor who had been hired to power wash the building’s exterior, Rollins said. The contractor was not identified.

That worker then handed the product to a restaurant employee, who left it by the bar. It wasn’t clear why the contractor gave the employee the product, Rollins said.

On Wednesday, another employee, who was prepping the bar before lunch service, discovered the product and placed some of it in containers at the margarita station.

“It’s almost like a little tray where they put water, lime juice,” Rollins said of the station. “And then on the other side of the tray is a place to put salt or sugar.”

(Margaritas at Chili’s can be served with salt or sugar rimmers, according to the drinks menu on the company’s website.)

When the restaurant opened, three customers who ordered margaritas reported feeling an instant burn upon consuming them and raised concerns with restaurant employees.

Two workers sampled the substance and experienced the same symptoms.

All five went immediately to local urgent care centers, which alerted emergency management operations for Rutherford County, Rollins said.

The county’s emergency management agency on Saturday declined to comment, citing “privacy and confidentiality considerations.”

The Foothills Health District immediately closed the restaurant Wednesday, temporarily suspending its permit, Rollins said.

It is unclear how severe the burns were.

“They had pretty instantaneous symptoms,” Rollins said, “so they didn’t ingest any more than they did.”

According to the Merck Manual, caustic substances can burn any tissue they touch when swallowed, from the lips and tongue to the esophagus and stomach. Industrial products, in particular, are more concentrated than ones found in homes, according to Merck, “and thus tend to be more damaging.”

Solid substances like a granulated degreaser, however, might only stick to the lips, which may limit damage, according to Merck.

On Thursday, the Chili’s restaurant reopened after complying with safety requirements.

“The establishment was instructed to wash, rinse and sanitize any and all surfaces that may have come into contact with the unknown chemical,” Masters said in an email.

An employee at the Chili’s in Forest City declined to comment, but the company representative said in the statement that it had “thoroughly investigated the circumstances and addressed the issues specific to this location.”

Chili’s is a popular bar and restaurant chain in the US, boasting 1212 locations in the nation to date.