Maybe, maybe not. When I was a probation officer, we had several cases of "assault" charges being filed because of fast food workers putting things in police officers' food and beverages (The fast food industry, as some may or may not be aware, is one of the few places career criminals, jerks, and idiots can readily find work).
We encountered or heard reports from other jurisdictions of cases in which people put insects, fingernails, spit, urine and seminal fluid (one of my former probationees, unfortunally did so in a local cop's Taco bell Taco ewwwww), bandaids, bleach and other cleaning chemicals.... into the officers food and beverages.
I do find it difficult to believe that any McDonalds makes their own patties, and if so, it would have had to be a HUGE amount of overseasoning to make a cop sick enough to go to the ER (though at one bite, he may have felt the need to go to the hospital to have his stomache pumped and the item tested for other tampering such as cleaning fluids.
To me, it depends on the timing and the video footage. If it shows that her forearm accidentally knocked the seasoning over into the food, for example, before the cop came in and ordered, then unless she's a psychic there's no way that she was intentionally trying to harm the cop.
Oh and the kid that "you knowed" into the taco, said he "accidentally sneezed" on the taco (that is it was actually snot and not um male fluid in the taco). Of course with testing they could determine what it was, and whose it was, but my question is didn't anyone notice him taking the guy's taco to the bathroom (or, um, not taking it to the bathroom).
I did listen to the full report, and I expect that there is a lot more to the story, and it should legitimately be sorted out in court. They charged her with Reckless conduct (a minor misdemeanor) and not felony assault (which is usually the charge they start with, in my experience, with suspected food tampering of a cops' food). This may mean that they acknowledge the tampering might have been accidental, or the cop filing the charges was actually being generous. Also the tampering happened on the night shift, which is notorious for food tamperings of this sort.
If the manager did as the girl said and served the burgers anyway, she could also be charged. Thinking of it this way. Cops know that it can happen. People have been known to put disgusting and dangerous things into cops' foods for a prank or for revenge. A cop tastes a burger that is "not right" and doesn't know what besides salt and pepper has been added to his food. As a precaution, the responsible thing to do is take the burger into evidence, have it tested, and have his stomache pumped "just in case." This wastes the cops time, is very unpleasant for the cop, costs the taxpayers money
for the medical expenses, and investigation of the incident.
Yep, I believe the charges are completely appropriate.