Two women were hospitalized after a New Zealand cafe mistakenly served dishwashing liquid as mulled wine, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Chico’s Restaurant Ltd. in the mountain resort of Queenstown on South Island pleaded guilty to a charge of selling food containing extraneous matter – the chemical sodium hydroxide – that caused injury, the Southland Times newspaper said.
Prosecutor Sarah McKenzie told Queenstown District Court that the two women were taken to a hospital after drinking the liquid last July, the newspaper reported.
Customer Sarah Ferguson had ordered a glass of “Mountain Thunder” mulled wine from Queenstown’s Old Man Rock Cafe, owned by Chico’s Restaurant Ltd.
She spat out the liquid when she experienced a burning sensation on her lips and mouth.
Cafe worker Bethany Sim offered to test the drink and suffered a similar reaction.