Update #2: THC-Contaminated Food from Famous Yeti’s Pizza in Stoughton, WI

Last week, we shared information about unintentional THC-contaminated pizza that was served at Famous Yeti’s Pizza in Stoughton, WI from Tuesday, October 22nd through Thursday, October 24th. Today, we’re sharing more information about what we’ve learned and answering questions we’re getting.

We are still reviewing responses to our questionnaire from people who ate the contaminated food.

More than 60 people who ate the contaminated food completed the questionnaire so far, and we plan to leave it open until 4:30 pm on Wednesday, October 30th. We create a questionnaire like this for all foodborne illness outbreaks, and this is a similar type of investigation. In the questionnaire we ask things like the kind of food people ate, their symptoms, if they saw a healthcare provider, and if anyone else they ate with got sick. This helps us learn how many people were affected and understand the scope of what happened.  

Other foods besides pizza were contaminated with oil that had THC in it.

Through responses to the questionnaire and in conversations with the operator, we learned that in addition to pizza, the oil with THC was also added to grinder sandwiches prior to cooking for "crunch."  This is also true for the garlic bread and cheese bread. People who ate these products should also complete our questionnaire.  

Some people who ate the food were hospitalized and children were affected. 

Our questionnaire is still open, and we continue to receive responses from people who ate the food. While we will share the complete data in our final report, we can share some preliminary data, which are subject to change as the questionnaire is still open. More than 25 people went to the emergency room due to their symptoms. Fewer than 5 people were hospitalized for at least one night. Children as young as one year old also ate the food and got sick.

While some people use THC products recreationally, ingesting it unknowingly and at unmeasured doses is disorienting and concerning. We do not know the dosage that was in each product, and the concentration of THC can vary by piece. Dizziness, sleepiness, anxiety, short term memory impact/time distortion, increased heart rate, nausea, and paranoia were each reported by more than half of affected people.  

We will not be issuing a citation for the business. 

We completed an investigation at the restaurant on Thursday, October 24th. Law enforcement accompanied our inspectors. We work with the establishment to ensure the public is protected and sometimes this includes writing orders or suspending licenses. The circumstances in this case were unique and written orders were unnecessary. The business voluntarily closed on Thursday, October 24th. Friday, October 25th, the facility remained closed to deep clean their kitchen. The business reopened on Saturday, October 26th.  Our inspectors returned to the shared kitchen along with staff from the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection on Monday, October 28th to verify licensure.  

The delta-9 oil that was inadvertently used in the food is a legal product. As we stated in our previous blog, there are no regulation requirements for products derived from the hemp plant.  Unlike commercial tobacco, Public Health cannot issue citations for the sale or distribution of hemp-derived products to minors.

We will share a final report in the next couple of weeks. 

This report will include information about our environmental health investigation and the results of our questionnaire. Subscribe to our blog to receive an email when we post that final report.