SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Jan Harding and her husband had just arrived at a Utah restaurant for a relaxing lunch with friends when she filled her cup with sweet tea from a self-serve beverage station. 
 
 Dickey's Barbecue Pit is shown Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014, in South Jordan, Utah. Police say a woman was in extremely critical condition after drinking sweet tea laced with an industrial cleaning chemical... (Associated Press) 
 
 Attorney Paxton Guymon holds a photograph of Jim and Jan Harding during a news conference in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. Jan Harding, 67, is in critical condition at a Salt Lake City hospital's... (Associated Press) 
 
 A sign is shown at Dickey's Barbecue Pit Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014, in South Jordan, Utah. Police say a woman was in extremely critical condition after drinking sweet tea laced with an industrial cleaning... (Associated Press) 
 
 The 67-year-old grandmother took one sip before spitting it out and exclaiming to her husband: "I think I just drank acid." 
 
 In fact, the tea was laced with a highly toxic industrial cleaning solution meant for degreasing deep fryers, authorities said. It contained the odorless chemical lye, the active ingredient in drain cleaners. 
 
 Four days later, Harding was in critical condition Thursday at a Salt Lake City hospital's burn unit, unable to talk and fighting for her life, lawyer Paxton Guymon said. She hasn't improved since Sunday, when she and her husband went to Dickey's Barbecue Pit in South Jordan after church. 
 
 Investigators and the restaurant manager have told the Hardings that a worker mistook the cleaning product for sugar and accidentally mixed large quantities of it into the iced-tea dispenser, Guymon said. 
 
 "It's disturbing that this kind of toxic, poisonous material would be in the food-prep area and somehow find its way into the iced tea vat," Guymon said. "I don't know how something like that can happen." 
 
 South Jordan police are still investigating how the chemical ended up in the sweet-tea container, but they think it was accidental, police Cpl. Sam Winkler said. South Jordan is a suburb of 60,000 about 15 miles south of Salt Lake City. 
 
 Investigators are reviewing video footage from inside the restaurant and interviewing staff who worked that day and in the days leading up to the incident. 
 
 They have determined Harding is the only victim, Winkler said. It appears she was the first to drink the tea that day, and restaurant employees dumped it out after she was burned, he said. 
 
 John Thomson, owner of the Dickey's Barbecue South Jordan franchise, said in a statement Thursday that he's praying for Jan Harding and cooperating with investigators. He said he would refrain from commenting on the specifics of what happened out of respect for the Hardings. His restaurant is one of 400 Dickey's around the country in the Dallas-based chain. 
 
 Guymon said he will wait for the police investigation to finish before determining what legal action to take. 
 
 The chemical, also known as sodium hydroxide, comes in both liquid and powder form. The one the worker added to the tea was a powder, Guymon said. 
 
 The chemical also is in products such as Drano, said Tom Richmond, professor of chemistry at the University of Utah. "It would start dissolving your insides," he said. 
 
 Doctors are trying to determine if it caused any tears in Harding's esophagus or stomach, Guymon said. The woman lives in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy with her husband of 47 years, Jim Harding. They have three adult children and six grandchildren. 
 
 Jim Harding and the couple's children are by her side at the hospital, praying for her recovery, Guymon said. They declined to comment through the attorney, who spoke on their behalf. 
 
 It's unclear if the employee who added the chemical still works at the restaurant or if anyone there faced any kind of disciplinary action. Guymon didn't know, and a Dickey's corporate spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 
 
 The restaurant has remained open since the incident, said Jeff Oaks, Food Protection Bureau manager at the Salt Lake County Health Department. His office inspected the establishment Monday and found all chemicals properly labeled and separated from food items. 
 
 The health department is awaiting results of the criminal investigation to determine if it should issue any violations. It's unlikely the restaurant would be fined or shut down, Oaks said. The department focuses on education and prevention over punitive measures, he said. 
 
 Health officials aren't aware of anything like this ever happening in Salt Lake County before. 
 
 Oaks said restaurant-goers don't need to be worried. "I believe this to be an isolated incident," he said. ||||| A Utah woman remains in critical condition with severe burns after sipping ice tea that was laced with a chemical used to clean cooking equipment at a local restaurant on Sunday, according to police and the victim's attorney. 
 
 Jan Harding, 67, was dining at Dickey's Barbecue Pit in South Jordan around noon Sunday when she sipped the poisoned drink, according to local police. 
 
 “It instantly started burning her mouth and she spit it out," South Jordan Police Cpl. Sam Winkler told the Los Angeles Times. 
 
 Winkler said a "highly toxic industrial cleaning chemical" was mixed into the ice tea, which was left in a dispenser that is accessible to patrons. The chemical, which is used to clean grease off of frying equipment, contains sodium hydroxide, commonly known as lye, Winkler said. 
 
 Harding's attorney, Paxton Guymon, said an employee confused the deadly chemical with sugar and mixed it into the drink. 
 
 Harding, who is married with three children and six grandchildren, remains in critical condition at the University of Utah Hospital's burn unit. Winkler told The Times that the 67-year-old woman has been intubated, has limited motion of her head and neck and cannot speak. 
 
 Her husband rushed her to an area hospital and officials there were so concerned that they airlifted the woman to the University of Utah's burn unit, Winkler said. 
 
 Police do not believe anyone else was hurt, and Winkler said Harding was one of the only customers inside the restaurant at the time. 
 
 “We are fortunate that it was a Sunday, that it wasn’t very busy," he said. “If someone had swallowed it, it could have been potentially fatal.” 
 
 South Jordan Police are pursuing a criminal investigation, according to Winkler, who declined to say exactly how the chemical got into the tea. 
 
 The restaurant was subject to a health department investigation, but remains open, Winkler said. 
 
 Dickey's Barbecue Pit is a Texas-based chain restaurant with hundreds of locations spanning the Southwest. 
 
 "Our thoughts and prayers go out to our guest and her family," the company said in a statement. "Safety is something we take very seriously when it comes to our valued guests, as well as our own team members. At this time we are fully involved in cooperating with all parties." 
 
 Follow @JamesQueallyLAT on Twitter for breaking news.
– An employee at Dickey's Barbecue Pit in South Jordan, Utah, appears to have mistaken lye, an odorless chemical found in drain cleaners, for sugar, and made a batch of "sweet" tea with it. Jan Harding, a 67-year-old grandmother out to lunch with her husband and friends after church Sunday, took one sip and immediately spit it out, saying, "I think I just drank acid," reports the AP. Her mouth immediately began to burn, and when her husband rushed her to a local hospital, officials there were so worried they airlifted her to the University of Utah's burn unit, reports the Los Angeles Times. Harding has been in critical condition since. She has been intubated, has limited movement of her head and neck, and isn't yet able to speak. "It's disturbing that this kind of toxic, poisonous material would be in the food-prep area and somehow find its way into the iced tea vat," her attorney says. "I don't know how something like that can happen." Harding appears to be the first and only victim, and a local police official says it's fortunate the restaurant wasn't busy: "If someone had swallowed it, it could have been potentially fatal," he says. Adds a chemistry expert, "It would start dissolving your insides." The chemical, found in products like Drano and also used to de-grease deep fryers, is also called sodium hydroxide and was added to the tea in powder form. Doctors are still trying to determine if it lacerated Harding's esophagus or stomach. The restaurant is participating in the investigation and remains open for business. (Check out what one doctor laced her lover's coffee with.)