Restaurant Unknowingly Laces Pizza With THC, Doses Nearly 100 Customers

Dozens of restaurant goers in Wisconsin had the sort of meal you wouldn’t ever forget. A recent case report details how they were accidentally fed food made with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary ingredient in cannabis responsible for getting you high.

Local health officials described the sitcom-like shenanigans in a report published Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Nearly 100 customers ate the restaurant’s THC-laced food in late October, some of whom visited the hospital as a result. The source of the “outbreak” was eventually traced back to THC-infused cooking oil mistaken for ordinary canola oil.

“Clinicians and public health practitioners should be alert to the possibility of mass THC intoxication events via food,” the report authors, from Public Health Madison & Dane County, wrote.

According to the report, the trouble (or fun, depending on your perspective) began sometime on October 22. Over the next three days, at least 85 people between the ages of 1 and 91 became intoxicated shortly after eating at the restaurant, including seven people who were sent to a local hospital with symptoms like dizziness, sleepiness, and anxiety. One individual was advised to call Public Health Madison & Dane County; the person reported they had tested positive for THC without any known exposure and that they had eaten at the restaurant the day before, prompting further investigation.

On October 24, officials contacted the restaurant’s owner, who agreed to immediately shut the place down. That same day, the owner called back and reported that the restaurant was in a building with a cooperative (shared) kitchen used by another business that produced THC edibles derived from hemp. The owner also reported that on October 22, the restaurant ran out of its cooking oil and began using oil from the shared kitchen—which the owner assumed was simply canola oil—to make the dough for its pizzas, sandwiches, and other bread-filled goods. A large oil container in the same area where the borrowed oil was found was then tested and found positive for THC.

Health officials brought in the local police for help, who determined that the restaurant’s THC contamination was indeed an accident, and no criminal charges were filed against the owner or others. It also appears no one was seriously hurt as a result. After a thorough cleaning, the restaurant opened back up on October 26.

As funny as all this sounds, anyone who’s mistakenly bitten into an edible or knows someone who has (ahem) can attest that it isn’t always a picnic to deal with, even if the effects are ultimately temporary. The victims also included eight children, three who experienced vomiting and one who even developed hallucinations. Thankfully, none of them were hospitalized.

The report authors say more should be done to prevent these sorts of incidents, given the rising popularity of THC and cannabis-centered businesses, especially if the businesses share space with restaurants. “Regulations regarding practices such as standard, clear labeling and locked storage for ingredients containing THC, might decrease the risk for unintentional THC exposure at licensed food businesses,” they wrote.

Personally, I’m just wondering if the incident lowered or boosted the restaurant’s Yelp rating.