An Oregon school district is facing a $1 million lawsuit after cafeteria staff allegedly served students soft pretzels coated with a chemical oven cleaner instead of salt, burning one boy’s throat, according to court documents.
The child, identified in the complaint as “L.L.,” suffered injuries to his throat, mouth and gastrointestinal tract after eating the pretzel at Fowler Middle School on October 20, 2025, the lawsuit obtained by Oregon Live said.
The complaint alleges that tablets of the toxic cleaning product were crushed and sprinkled over soft pretzels served to the sixth grader and his classmates.
The product, Alto-Shaam concentrated oven cleaner, contains lye and other corrosive substances. According to the lawsuit, it had not been properly secured in the kitchen and was mistakenly added to the food by lead cook Joyce A. Webb.
The school district contacted poison control at about 11 a.m. after discovering that 37 contaminated pretzels had been distributed and roughly 50 students had eaten them shortly after 10:30 a.m., the filing stated.
Parents were not informed until approximately 11:45 a.m., when the district sent an email about the incident, according to court records.
Around noon, the boy’s parent called the school to ask whether her son had been poisoned. The parent was reportedly told that “families of affected students would be contacted sometime in the future,” records said.
The child’s parents later learned that he had been “sequestered” in a room for more than an hour. The complaint said he reported a burning sensation in his throat and stomach pain after eating the pretzel.
A sixth-grade boy suffered burns to his throat and gastrointestinal tract after eating a soft pretzel at Fowler Middle School on October 20, 2025, that had allegedly been dusted with chemical cleaner, according to a lawsuit filed by his parents. (Pictured: File photo)
Rather than salt, lead cook Joyce A. Webb allegedly crushed an Alto-Shaam concentrated oven cleaner tablet (pictured) and sprinkled the substance over the pretzels, according to the lawsuit.
Although the boy told school administrators that he felt ill, he was sent back to class. The filing also said the school told his parents that he was not showing symptoms.
During an investigation by the Tigard Police Department, other staff members reportedly told officers that Webb “initially did not appear to want to inform students to stop eating the pretzels,” according to the lawsuit.
Substitute staff member Chloe Larson said she tasted the suspected seasoning and immediately experienced a burning sensation.
Chloe Larson, a substitute staff member, also sampled what she believed was salt and experienced burning in her mouth, KPTV reported.
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Larson then located the discarded packet. After persuading Webb to turn it over, she discovered the substance that had been placed on the pretzels, according to the outlet.
Webb told investigators that she had been rushing and accidentally used the cleaning chemical after crushing the tablets to prepare for cleaning the school’s commercial steamer, court documents said.
The lawsuit stated that the tablets should not be crushed and are intended solely for use in ovens.
Police ended their investigation the same day they interviewed Webb, saying they could not establish probable cause, the local outlet reported.
The lawsuit names Webb, the Tigard-Tualatin School District and Fowler Middle School Principal Cindy Pellicci (pictured) as co-defendants.
The boy’s parents later learned that he had been “sequestered” in a room from 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and had complained of throat burning and stomach pain after consuming the contaminated pretzel, according to the complaint.
The tablets are not supposed to be crushed and are only to be used in ovens, the lawsuit stated
Tigard-Tualatin School District and Fowler Middle School Principal Cindy Pellicci (pictured) are listed as co-defendants in the lawsuit
According to the filing, ‘L.L.’ also experienced emotional distress from the frightening incident that has resulted in ‘ongoing psychological impacts.’
The lawsuit has accused the defendants of negligence, unlawful confinement and civil rights violations. The parents are seeking up to $950,220.85, KPTV reported.
When approached for comment by the Daily Mail, a spokesperson with Tigard-Tualatin School District said they cannot comment on pending litigation.
The Daily Mail also contacted Barrett Mersereau, the attorney representing all the defendants, for comment.
As of Friday, he has not filed an answer to the complaint.
Pellicci and Webb did not immediately respond to a request for comment.