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Published February 18, 2024, 8:47 p.m. ET
He still loves it – but with one huge exception.
A Rockland County man who is suing McDonald's after claiming a stray piece of cheese on his Big Mac nearly killed him in February 2021 still eats at the greasy fast food joint but only orders a plain burger and no longer eats out like he used to.
“I went to McDonalds again,” Charles Olsen, who has a severe milk allergy, told The Post this week. “But I no longer trust McDonald's to adhere to any ordering guidelines, such as not having cheese.
Charles Olsen is suing McDonald's after he said a misplaced piece of cheese almost killed him.
According to a recently filed lawsuit, Olsen suffered an anaphylactic reaction after biting into the famous Mickey D's burger. The mishap led to him being taken to the hospital, where he believed he “may not make it,” he said.
“Now I just order their fries and a plain burger with nothing on it. Just the patty and the bun,” he said. “I just can’t take the risk of it happening again.”
Olsen also said this week that he still avoids eating out at most restaurants, nearly three years after the disturbing incident, which the 28-year-old explained began as a “normal evening” with friends and in which he ordered from one of his “go” restaurants – to seats.”
He said he placed his regular order with the usual request of “No cheese” instead of Door Dash, as he has done “so many times.” When the food arrived and he opened his burger, there was no indication that the order had been tampered with.
“When I got my food, I opened the burger and it looked like it always did when I ordered it. I did not see any cheese melted over the sides,” Olsen said in written answers from his lawyers. “I assumed it was like every time I’d eaten there before.”
But he quickly suffered a reaction that quickly worsened, he said.
“I was just frustrated that McDonalds got the order wrong,” he said. “But as my symptoms worsened, I started to worry and realized how bad it was.
The plaintiff no longer orders a Big Mac, but is content with a simple burger. AP
“As my throat closed and I found it difficult to breathe, I actually thought I might not be able to do it.”
Olsen and his girlfriend rushed to the hospital in an Uber because they thought an ambulance would take too long, he said. About a dozen doctors and nurses surrounded him and he was given a cocktail of epinephrine, Benadryl and steroids, which took effect before he had to be intubated, his report said.
The order came from a McDonald's at 355 8th Ave., which has since closed, his legal team said.
McDonald's declined to comment on the lawsuit earlier this month, but sent a statement from the franchise owner saying the owner was taking the complaint “seriously” and was investigating the claims.
Olsen's girlfriend, Alexandra DiBenedetto, told The Post the ordeal was “terrifying.”
“It was absolutely horrific watching him struggle and as the reaction progressed it became more and more frightening,” she said.
The lawsuit includes a screenshot of the order he placed in which he did not request cheese. Court document
“It's never easy watching someone you love suffer, let alone fight for their life,” she added. “I was up all night, afraid to watch him make sure everything was OK.”
Aside from now wary of sticking with a bland Golden Arches burger, Olsen also avoids restaurants that might serve a lot of cheese. He mostly goes to Asian restaurants, he said, because they don't use much cheese or dairy.
“I hope my story raises awareness about how serious food allergies are. Something has to be done,” he said. “Something needs to be done to ensure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. Employees need to be better trained. Restaurants can do better. Restaurants owe it to their customers to do better.”
His lawyer, Jory Lange, stressed that restaurants need to listen to their customers better and warned that food allergies are “a matter of life and death.”
“Thank God Charles survived,” said Lange, who specializes in food allergy litigation. “This traumatic event could have turned into a terrible tragedy.”
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