By james art STOUGHTON, Wis. (WKOW) — The owner of Famous Yeti’s Pizza in Stoughton is preparing to reopen the restaurant after his dough was accidentally contaminated with THC.
Public Health Madison & Dane County confirmed in a post on its website Friday that the operation added the substance to the dough by mistake. Public Health has been investigating the incident since Thursday.
Yeti’s shares a building with several other businesses, including a shared kitchen. Public Health said the pizzeria’s “operator” was preparing the dough on Tuesday and ran out of cooking oil. He went to the shared kitchen area and “took oil from another operator’s shelf. The oil he got was in a clear plastic jug that looks like other cooking oils.
The jug was unlabeled except for the cap, which “noted that it contained delta-9 cannabis,” according to public health. “The operator did not notice the label on the cap.”
The THC in pot comes from hemp and therefore is not regulated in the same way as products made from marijuana. The seller the jug belonged to is licensed by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and Consumer Protection.
Stoughton EMS picked up five people in their ambulance exhibiting similar symptoms who had eaten at Famous Yeti’s. Responders initially suspected carbon monoxide exposure and tested the restaurant.
On Thursday, EMS contacted public health officials who were interviewing a patient at Stoughton Health, the local hospital. Patients said they felt as if they had ingested edible THC.
“The patient was tested positive for THC,” the public health post said.
27 News spoke with the owner of Famous Yeti’s Friday. He expressed remorse and said he would spend the day working to try to open for evening service or by Saturday. The business later posted a sign on its door saying the pizzeria would remain closed at least through the weekend.
“We are closed Friday, October 25th for deep cleaning and preparation,” the sign read. “We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to see you soon.”
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