Applebee's Issues Media Statement

We want to express how thankful we are that the child involved in the incident at our restaurant in Madison Heights, MI on April 8, was not seriously injured as a result of accidentally receiving the wrong beverage. We also want to apologize to his parents, for the stress and worry this caused them. Although our efforts to speak with the child's parents have been unsuccessful, we extend our personal apologies.

After receiving the Madison Heights Police report this afternoon, we know that the child was served a trace amount of alcohol (per the MHPD report published 4/11/11, "the officer checked the drink with his PBT and it registered a .014") and are trying to get more details about this information. Furthermore, as per the police report, EMTs checked the child at the scene and he was released. As we work to gather all of the facts related to this incident, including conducting our own investigation with our restaurant staff, we are also moving forward with pro-active actions to help prevent a reoccurrence:

1) We are changing the way we serve apple juice to our young guests. We will switch to pouring apple juice only from single-serve containers served at the table. We have already started communicating this new policy within our system and it will be in-place this week.

2) We will retrain all servers on our beverage pouring policy, emphasizing that non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages must be stored in completely separate and identified containers. This retraining will begin immediately.

We recognize our responsibility to constantly assess our safety policies and procedures to ensure they are rigorous and consistently followed. We believe today's strong actions make a statement to our guests of all ages around our commitment to provide a safe and enjoyable dining experience.

Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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