Connecticut woman sues Chopt restaurants after allegedly "chewing on a portion of a human finger" in a salad

A customer has filed a lawsuit against the fast-casual chain Chopt over a salad that she says contained a piece of the manager's finger.

The lawsuit filed Monday by Allison Cozzi of Greenwich, Connecticut, alleges that she bought a salad at a Chopt location in Mount Kisco, New York, on April 7, 2023, and realized while eating it that "she was chewing on a portion of a human finger that had been mixed in to, and made a part of, the salad."

According to the suit, a manager at the restaurant accidentally severed a piece of her left pointer finger while chopping arugula.

The manager went to the hospital, but the contaminated arugula was served to customers that included Cozzi, the lawsuit says.

Westchester County health department records show that Chopt was fined $900.

Cozzi said in the lawsuit that she suffered injuries including shock, panic attacks, migraine, cognitive impairment, nausea, dizziness, and neck and shoulder pain as a result of eating the contaminated salad.

She is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

An email seeking comment was sent to Chopt Creative Salad Co., a chain with more than 70 locations across the eastern United States.

Cozzi's attorney said Tuesday that she does not want to comment further.

This is hardly the first time a customer has allegedly found a human finger in their food. In 2016, pregnant California woman filed a claim saying she found a bloody fingertip in a salad at an Applebee's restaurant in Paso Robles.

In 2012, a Michigan teen said he found a finger — including a knuckle — when he bit into his Arby's roast beef sandwich. 

In 2010, a Florida woman sued IHOP after she allegedly found the severed tip of a human finger in her fried chicken green salad.

In 2005, a man allegedly found part of a severed finger packed inside a pint of frozen custard he'd bought from a Kohl's Frozen Custard shop in North Carolina. 

In:
• Lawsuit
• Chopt
• Connecticut