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SOUTH JORDAN — Newly released surveillance video shows the horrifying moment when a woman took a sip of sweet tea tainted with lye at Dickey's, a popular chain restaurant in South Jordan in August.
After just one taste, Jan Harding immediately knew something was very wrong. The video shows Harding, 67, coughing, spitting and reaching for water seconds after filling her cup with the poisoned tea.
The footage shows Harding’s husband, Jim, approach his wife at the drink counter, where she was doubled over in pain. Jim Harding then goes to find a restaurant employee and asks what was in his wife’s drink.
Weeks before the incident, a former Dickey’s employee reportedly unintentionally had poured the industrial cleaner — used to clean grease from fryers — into a sugar bag, according to investigators. Video from the restaurant kitchen the morning of Aug. 10 shows a different employee scooping the poisoned sugar mixture into the sweet tea dispenser.
Harding — the first and only customer to drink the tea — suffered deep burns to her mouth, throat and upper esophagus from the lye. She spent a week in critical condition and nearly died.
The Hardings' family attorney said he’d learned of a second incident involving lye at the South Jordan restaurant in July. An employee dipped her finger in a sugar container and licked it to test for the chemical cleaner, according to Paxton Guymon.
The woman’s tongue began to blister and burn. She quit the day before Harding drank the poisoned tea, Guymon said.
Investigators announced they would not press charges in the case, but the Hardings are seeking compensation for their medical bills. Officials with the Dallas-based restaurant chain claim the incident was isolated and unprecedented.
Jessica Ivins is a content manager for KSL.com and contributor to the Motherhood Matters section.
