What got into the vanilla syrup? Trip to DQ for dessert turns dangerous for mother & son

COLORADO (WITI) -- A trip to Dairy Queen for a sweet treat last Thursday evening, August 21st turned dangerous for a mother and her son in Colorado.

The mother and son tasted trouble in their ice cream treats -- and then they got sick.

"He tasted something funny, but thought it was off his hand, and he said 'Mom, this shake tastes disgusting,'" Lisa Chase told FOX6's sister station, KDVR.

Chase and her son, Riley each ordered vanilla shakes.

"I took a drink of it and tasted something very 'chemically,' and then my mouth and throat started burning," Riley told his mom.

Chase says her encounter with the store's management after trying the shakes left a bad taste in her mouth.

"He said 'we don't give money back.' I said 'no, I'm going to take this to the hospital with my son, and you can pay for that.' He said 'do whatever you got to do,'" Chase told KDVR.

Eventually, Chase says a district manager called her -- and said somehow, a cleaning chemical got into the vanilla syrup.

"He said 'someone had a cleaning bottle and they didn't clean it out and they just put vanilla in it,'" Chase said.

Chase says she is shaken up -- thinking something bad could have happened to her son.

"Just not knowing what it was, I didn't know what to do," Chase said.

The Colorado Health Department is investigating.

CLICK HERE for more on this story via KDVR.