Ritika Janiya
A 13-year-old girl from Barking, London, died after taking an ultra-lethal allergic reaction to the hot chocolate from Costa Coffee. A coroner has disclosed that the communications failure on the safety training for allergens resulted in her tragic death. Hannah’s mother, Abimbola Duyile, is calling forth for more allergy awareness and stronger industrial training.
On February 8, 2023, bouncy 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs, from Barking in East London, had gone out for a simple treat with her mother, Abimbola Duyile. They had stopped by the Costa Coffee to have two soya hot chocolates. Little did they know that this was to be the last day of her life.
After buying drinks, Hannah and her mother proceeded to the dentist. While waiting in the dentist’s waiting room before seeing the doctor, Hannah suddenly rose and rushed to the bathroom. She exclaimed, “That was soya milk!” She could feel her lips and mouth swelling while at the same time having a very itchy sensation. Abimbola rushed her as fast as possible to the nearby chemist, where the administration of an EpiPen helped to stop the reaction.
By 1:00 p.m. that same afternoon, Hannah was pronounced dead despite efforts to save her. A little while later, officials confirmed anaphylaxis—the very serious allergic reaction to one of the ingredients in the hot chocolate to which Hannah was allergic—as the cause of death.
The tragedy resulted in an inquest, during which a coroner, Dr. Shirley Radcliffe, ruled that a collection of varied failures had contributed to Hannah’s death. The inquest revealed that there was no communication from employees of Costa Coffee regarding Hannah’s allergy, and no proper type of allergen training within the staff. With this, added to the fact that neither Hannah nor her mother carried an EpiPen with them, led to the tragic ending.
Abimbola Duyile spoke out after the event, saying there needs to be greater allergen awareness. “My beautiful Hannah only had 13 years on this earth when she should have had many, many more,” she said. She added that he was a vivacious little boy, caring and affectionate, with a very good sense of right and wrong. She said, “It seems clear that while food service and medical professionals have some allergy training, it is not taken seriously enough. Better awareness is needed.”.
At the time of the incident, staff at Costa Coffee were trained through online modules and a quiz. Barista Urmi Akter testified that she actually confirmed the order but pointed out that hot chocolate is made from milk. Such lack of clear communication might have resulted in a misunderstanding like this and hence led to this terrible tragedy.
The coroner’s report concluded that the ‘root cause’ of Hannah’s death was a failure to follow proper procedures in relation to allergen information and a breakdown in communication between the barista and Hannah’s mother.
This is not an isolated distressing story in the tragic examples of severe food allergies. Natasha Ednan-Laperouse’s parents, who also lost her because of an allergic reaction when she had a Pret a Manger baguette with sesame, are also pressing for urgent action to enhance allergy awareness and care. Similar to Hannah’s family, they are asking for the appointment of an “allergy tsar” to deal in a better way with serious health conditions.
Costa Coffee has reacted to Hannah’s death with deep sadness. A company spokesperson said: “Understanding how this terrible circumstances occurred is in the interest of everyone – our franchise partners, our customers, our team members and the communities we are part of. We’ve listened to everything the Coroner has said and will consider carefully her comments along with any report she may publish and respond appropriately.”.
This tragedy puts a spotlight on two very important things: proper allergen management and communication within the food industry. As Hannah’s family mourns the death of their loved one, their wish for better training and awareness serves as a definite call to action to take food allergies more seriously than they have been.
But it’s a tremendous tragedy in the final analysis: the loss of Hannah Jacobs. She showed us all that this is something very serious. It will take each and every food service provider and medical professional seriously undergoing allergy training in order to ensure this does not happen again. Hopefully, with heightened awareness and better practices, no other family will ever have to endure the same pain.
