Mia Shay St Hilaire was visiting a cafe in London with her aunt and sister when she ordered the Twix milkshake that would take her life.
The 12-year-old shouldn’t have been allergic to the drink. But after having some, she “developed rapidly progressing anaphylaxis,” a reaction that affects multiple body systems at once, a coroner’s report determined.
She “later collapsed at her aunt’s home.” The child received emergency treatment and was transferred to the intensive care unit at Evelina London Children’s Hospital where she died, the coroner’s office said Thursday.
St Hilaire had a life-threatening tree nut allergy. But Pop Inn cafe owner Baris Yucel had just used the same blender to make a hazelnut-containing Kinder Bueno milkshake — and didn’t wash it before preparing St. Hilaire’s order.
The Independent reports that CCTV captured Yucel making St. Hilaire’s milkshake without cleaning the blender before.
“No family should ever have to lose a child in these circumstances,” the girl’s parents said in a statement. “If the local authority had ensured that the cafe’s allergy management responsibilities had been properly understood, and put into practice, we believe Mia would still be alive today.”
“We want to make sure that change is Mia’s legacy so that we can help to save lives in the future … Mia was, and is, deeply loved and she will never be forgotten.”
After St Hilaire died in August 2023, the cafe was fined £18,000 (about $24,000).
Yucel admitted to six violations of the Food Safety Act, including not making allergen advice available or visible to customers, failing to manage contamination during food production, and serving food that contained an allergenic ingredient that was not supposed to be present.
He was ordered to serve 100 hours of community service and no longer owns or operates the cafe.
“The Judge accepted that Mr. Yucel had shown genuine remorse,” Yucel’s lawyer told Southwark News. “He took immediate steps to better educate himself in September and October 2023 and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.”
“Mr. Yucel has had to live with the consequences what happened and a day does not go by when he does not think about the child and her family.”
Improving safety for people with food allergies
One in 13 children have a food allergy in America, and 42% of them have had a severe reaction to food.
Every year in the US, 3.4 million patients (the population of Oklahoma) have a food allergy-related emergency room visit, according to Food Allergy Research and Education.
Death from food allergies are exceedingly rare, thanks to life-saving interventions like epinephrine, administered through devices like an EpiPen. In the US, anaphylaxis kills 225 people a year, though most are from drug allergies.
In the US, food allergy safety regulations vary by the state and city. The UK has more standardized regulation, requiring all food businesses to declare any of the regulated allergens as ingredients — including tree nuts.
Still, it wasn’t enough to save St Hilaire’s life. Her parents are pushing for more to be done.
“We are convinced that significant changes are needed to protect people living with food allergies,” St Hilaire’s parents aid.
“Consumers rely on food hygiene ratings when deciding where it is safe to eat, but they do not tell us anything about the way a food business runs allergy management systems … There should be a separate, clearly displayed rating dedicated to allergy management, like the food hygiene rating.”
