An Oregon woman with a rare beer allergy has sued a local wing joint for serving her beer-battered onion rings, sending her into anaphylactic shock.
Mui Van, 32, of Salem, filed a $155,000 lawsuit against iWingz, a local arcade and restaurant, after a server allegedly told her their beer-battered onion rings could be made without beer in May 2024, The Oregonian reported.
Van has a rare hops allergy. Hops refers to the Humulus lupulus plant, which is used to give beer its distinctive flavor.
Van allegedly asked the server if the onion rings could be made without the beer and was told: 'Yeah, yeah, we can do that,' the complaint said.
However, she later learned the fried appetizer came pre-battered in the beer mixture.
'She was trusting what she had been told by the restaurant,' her attorney, Jory Lange, who dubbed himself the food poisoning lawyer, told The Oregonian. She is also represented by Portland lawyer, Spencer Kelly.
After taking a bite of her onion ring, her lips began to swell, and she felt a 'squeezing' sensation in her throat and chest, the complaint alleged.
Her husband rushed her to the emergency room, where she went into anaphylactic shock.
Mui Van, 32, of Salem, says she was eating at iWingz when she went into anaphylactic shock in May 2024 after eating an onion ring
She claims to have asked the server if the beer-battered appetizer could be made without beer and that she was told yes. She has an allergy to hops, an ingredient in beer
The restaurant's current menu does not appear to have beer-battered onion rings. It does, however, offer onion chips, which are classified as 'hand-breaded.' It is unclear if their current recipe includes beer.
The Daily Mail has contacted iWingz and Van's lawyers for comment.
Since the incident, Van said she has a lot of anxiety when dining out, or even shopping at the grocery store for items that may have a hidden beer ingredient in it.
Van has since returned to dining out, as this incident is the only time she has been given something she was allergic to at a restaurant, the lawsuit said.
'Unless you’re a farmer making your own food, you’ve got to be able to trust either the grocery store or the restaurant to tell you about what you’re putting in the food,' Lange told The Oregonian.
Van and her husband, as well as her children and sister-in-law, had been dining at iWingz for an early Mother's Day dinner when the incident occurred.
Humulus lupulus is used in beer to keep it fresher for longer and helps the alcoholic beverage retain its foam, which helps it retain its flavor.
The largest hops growers in the US are in Washington's Yakima Valley.