Rocklander Sues McDonald's Over Big Mac With Cheese

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — A Rockland resident who is allergic to milk has sued McDonald's alleging that he bit into a Big Mac he ordered from a location in Manhattan and ended up in the hospital.

According to the lawsuit, filed Friday in State Supreme Court by attorneys Scott Hartford and Jory Lange, Charles Olsen and his friends ordered from a McDonald's location they had used before, so that he could get his Big Mac without cheese.

Milk-based allergies are among the most common food allergies, the suit said.

When he made his order through Door Dash, Olsen checked off "no American cheese," the suit said. It included an image of their order.

The lawsuit said: "After the order arrived, Charles opened his burger and began to eat. After a few bites, he immediately felt like something wasn't right. His throat began to itch and swell. He felt a burning sensation throughout his body. He looked at his girlfriend, Alexandra, and coughed, 'There's milk in this!'"

Minutes later, the 28-year-old was covered in hives and gasping for breath, and Alexandra rushed him to a hospital. According to the lawsuit, it took several hours for doctors to stabilize him.

"He had ordered from the same McDonald's multiple times before, always specifying no cheese, so he assumed it would be OK. He trusted the restaurant," Jory Lange, one of his lawyers, told Patch. "He didn't see any cheese melting out over the edges. Later — after they come back from the emergency room — his girlfriend picks it up from the trash and sees there's actually cheese in there."

Lange and co-attorney Scott Harford said it was important that consumers be able to trust what they're being served as food.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers," officials of the McDonald's franchisee’s organization told Patch. "We take every complaint seriously and are actively reviewing these claims.”

With severe allergies now affecting so many Americans, it's important to tell people what's in their food, Lange and Harford said.

Almost 6 percent of U.S. adults and children have a food allergy, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

"What we're trying with this issue is to add awareness," Harford said. "I have a very serious issue with shellfish so this really hits home to me."

Lange alleged the McDonald's menu on Door Dash had nothing about food allergies. Many restaurants do specify, he pointed out. "I think that's an extra safety measure that McDonald's should have done and didn't do in this case."

"Every day all across the country there are people who end up having to go to the emergency room, be hospitalized or worse because restaurants are serving them foods with food allergens unlabeled," Lange said. "I actually represent several families where someone did die after getting the wrong thing at a restaurant. Thankfully that's not what happened here."