TAMPA - Cynthia Gamrot loved hot coffee, until the day she says the lid popped off of a cup she got at a local drive thru and spilled all over her lap. “It was burning intensely, thousands of hot needles on me. I looked down and I could see my skin just kind of peeling off."
Click the slide show above to see pictures of the burns Gamrot suffered - Warning, some images are graphic.
The pictures, Cynthia says, are of 2nd and 3rd degree burns she received. “I don't want someone to go through what I went through."
An ambulance trip to Bayfront Medical Center and numerous trips to a plastic surgeon racked up thousands in medical bills and even more, Cynthia says, in pain and suffering. All because, in her words,” The coffee was too hot and too full. It was way up to the top."
Cynthia sued the owner of the 4th street Chick-fil-A in St. Petersburg. In a deposition Cynthia showed us, the franchise owner stated it was corporate policy at the time to serve coffee at 170 to 200 degrees.
According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, coffee should be served at 180 degrees.
But the Director of Tampa General Hospital's Burn Unit says that's hot enough to cause a third-degree burn if you spill it on you. Doctor David Smith says, “There's a time - temperature relationship. The hotter the temperature, the much shorter the time. At 150 maybe 160 degrees, it takes less than one second to have a second or third degree burn."
We wanted to see how hot coffee was served at some popular national franchises in Tampa Bay and set up our own unscientific sampling using a thermocouple on loan from USF's Chemistry Department.
My photographer Scott and I tested 33 cups of coffee from drive-thrus at 10 national chains: McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, Einstein's, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Hardees, Arby's and Wendy's.
Scroll down to see the list of Tampa Bay area test locations and company responses
While the majority of the coffee was served between 150 and 175 degrees, the hottest cups, at 180, came from the McDonalds at 1905 North Dale Mabry in Tampa, the Dunkin Donuts at 4325 on West Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa and the Krispy Kreme at 8425 on North Florida Avenue.
The coolest, at 122 and 144 degrees came from the same Chick-fil-A where Cynthia claims she was burned. We asked the owner if he'd changed any policy since the alleged incident. Both the owner and his attorney declined to comment due to pending litigation.
Carl Borchgrevink is a Professor at Michigan State University, who conducted 2 studies on hot liquids being served thru quick service windows after the landmark McDonald’s case of a woman who burned herself with hot coffee. “The serving at 150 I'm okay with," he said, "but the serving at 180 or higher is dangerous. I'm a little surprised people are still serving at that temperature given we've established that's risky from a customer's point of view."
Borchgrevink also put together a study asking consumers what temperature they actually considered hot but safe and satisfying. “We came away with a preferred temperature of 144 to 155, with most coming close to the upper end of that range."
If those consumers like coffee at 155 degrees, why would restaurants brew the beverage at higher temps?
In Carl’s opinion, “195 to 205, which is often the recommended temperature to get the maximum extraction of coffee, if they wish to brew it at a slightly lower temperature you need to use more coffee. So there is, in fact, an economic argument."
COFFEE TEST LOCATIONS and TEMPERATURES:
MCDONALD'S
1905 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa -180
4009 North Armenia Avenue, Tampa -179
926 West Fletcher Avenue, Tampa - 174
2101 East 13th Avenue, Tampa -170
BURGER KING
2965 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa -171
2601 East Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa - 170
8406 North Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa -154
611 South Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa -175
STARBUCKS
502 E. Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa -173
1508 North Westshore Blvd., Tampa -168
8602 Hillsborough Ave, Tampa -172
1600 W Kennedy Blvd -176
EINSTEIN
10802 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa - 169
619 South Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa didn’t have a drive thru
CHICK-FIL-A
6299 W Waters Ave, Tampa -177
609 South Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa - 152
4241 4th street st pete - 122
4241 4th street ( different day ) -144
5302 East Fowler Ave -166
15801 n Dale Mabry - 167
DUNKIN DONUTS
7004 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa - 176
8714 West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa -169
4325 West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa -180
4404 West Gandy Boulevard, Tampa - 168
KRISPY KREME
3113 W Kennedy Blvd, Tampa - 169
8425 North Florida Avenue, Tampa - 180
HARDEE's
4116 West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa - 147
11010 Casey Road, Tampa no longer there
3795 34th Street North St Petersburg -164
ARBY'S
5620 West Waters Avenue, Tampa - 150
2230 East Fletcher Avenue, Tampa no coffee served
9597 4th Street N St Pete -144
WENDY'S
1615 West Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa - 158
1501 East Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa - 158
2036 North Dale
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