Girl died drinking Costa hot chocolate, inquest told
http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkyjxz4y70o
Posted by Fdana
Girl died drinking Costa hot chocolate, inquest told
http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkyjxz4y70o
Posted by Fdana
35 Comments
A sad event, although I’m not sure what cafes can do (beyond current measures) to prevent the 0.0001% of times an accident like this happens (other than replacing baristas with machines).
Sad but you are literally entrusting your life to some minimum wage barista..
People don’t take dairy or gluten allergies seriously; they just think you’re following some fad diet and pretending you have an allergy to be trendy.
that’s infuriatingly sad.
Not a chance in hell I’d eat out anywhere if I had an allergy that serious, that’s some serious trust in others to not make a mistake, or for them to even care at all…
Fortunately I just avoid dairy out of choice, not due to an allergy, I have probably had this happen to me half a dozen times over the last year (yeah I drink too much take away coffee, what of it).
I point it out, they apologise and make another one, and just seem to treat it as one of those things. For me it’s a minor inconvenience, but they seem to have no appreciation that this is life and death for some people
If her allergy was that severe, why didn’t they already have the EpiPen with them? Surely that’s just asking for trouble!
If I had a dairy allergy that severe I would never go to a chain restaurant like that. Have you seen the way they wipe down the milk frother? It’s hardly thorough.
I blame the mum tbh. It’s her job to keep the kid safe. The world is indifferent and some people are ignorant. If they had known she had severe allergies since she was a toddler, why did she not ensure that they had their own EpiPens in case of an incident like this? You’re meant to keep two on you in case the first one fails.
Not sure why you would stop to get a hot chocolate on the way to the dentist that you’re late for either. Surely you’re just making the dentists job harder?
If she was that allergic, why didn’t she have an EpiPen on her, rather than going to a Chemist to use theirs?
Away from the other points why would you be drinking hot chocolate in a dentist’s waiting room.
This is tragic. As a chef I know how serious allergies are and my heart goes out to the family of this poor girl.
It always amazes me how sometimes even allergy sufferers don’t inform us of their allergies if they think the food they’ve ordered doesn’t contain what they’re allergic to, I have had people with nut allergies not let us know they have an allergy until they’re ordering desserts! It’s fucking crazy.
Serious question – would the barista be held liable? Or would it be down to Costa?
My wife has a similar allergy, never in her life she has ordered a hot chocolate out, mainly because most brands contain powdered milk. Also, they should have had an epi pen with them. And a medical bracelet. And call an ambulance immediately when the kid has a zip. Also, they should have been carrying around a plastic card stating no dairy under no circumstances, especially since the mom admits that people don’t understand her when she is speaking.
Very avoidable situation.
So is this Costa put dairy milk in instead of soya milk despite being told of an allergy, or put soya milk in which was cross contaminated with dairy after someone asked for soya without mentioning an allergy?
Both are bad but the first would be a greater level of negligence.
This is awful but I have to say the same as everyone else. If your allergy is that severe, do not risk a stranger prepping your food, especially in a rushed environment like a coffee shop. It’s just not worth the risk, mistakes happen all the time, the baristas are only human. You also cannot guarantee accidental contamination either…
Firstly this is horrible and an absolute tragedy for the family.
Secondly are there any ways this can be improved or mitigated?
For instance if the allergy is that severe maybe dabbing some of the liquid on the back of the hand or the lips and then waiting a few minutes before drinking might show up when there is something in it?
Also are there any testing kits people make? You’d think they could make a little strip of paper, like a pH testing paper, where you can put a little of the drink on it and see if it changes colour.
Surely people with this level of allergy need to have a system for making sure when they have the cup in their hand that it’s ok for them?
Victim blaming the mother of the dead girl or the dead girl in comments is sad. Please go and touch grass and then talk to people with severe food allergies. They go out to restaurants all the time and forget their epi pens and it is fine.
Food allergies are manageable and alternative ingredients exist for a reason and clearly they been to Costa before. Putting the wrong ingredient in through careless or malicious behaviour is on the person who did so – not the mother or child. Like fuck you if you think otherwise.
Also “if I had allergies I’d live in a clean room and would never leave the house and only eat things I prepared myself”. Lol. Get real. Posting shit on the Internet because you’re not actually impacted and not actually having to do anything is easy.
Heartbreaking story and I know her and the kid just wanted to do something normal , but honestly there isn’t a chance in hell I’m trusting my kids life to a person who could make one simple mistake so easily .
Her poor family
The thing is hot chocolate powder has milk in it unless they’re using pure cocoa powder but even then it’s a risk I wouldn’t want to take if I had that severe an allergy.
And Costa’s hot chocolate mix has milk powder in it. I know cause I’ve been told about it anytime I order a hot chocolate with soya milk and vegan cream. I only have severe lactose intolerance though so that little doesn’t effect me but I can’t imagine risking an allergy that severe for a hot chocolate
the only way to try snd avoid this would be to have a separate prep area and adesignated barrista to prep drinks or food for those with allergies
There’s a lot that went wrong here, at least I’m hopeful things like this can and are avoided.
This is really sad. For a second I was worried because the article title said the death was hot chocolate until I read it and it goes into details about the dairy allergy!
Sending prayers to her family 🥺
I never understand people with severe allergies, how people will go to restaurants and request a variety of foods without specific ingredients. Just don’t go? Is it entitlement or do they just not give a fuck about their own life, I’ve probably been out for a meal a few times in the last decade, I order a few times a month but even then I’d happily just make my own.
Costa and Pret are terrible for on-site prep but Starbucks are outright misleading. Many of Starbucks’ non-dairy milk drinks contain dairy in their various flavours and sauces, they simply get around the “misleading the public” part by not declaring them vegan or dairy-free.
If you’re lactose intolerant and ever found yourself running to the bathroom after having a fancy Starbucks drink made with oat milk, that’s why.
I’m surprised the parent dragged her from a dentist to a pharmacy. I’d assume a dentist would know first aid and might have oxygen and an epi pen on hand.
Even if she wanted to buy an epi pen, you’d leave the child with the dentist and call an ambulance.
Not blaming the mother, but I’m struggling to understand the series of events.
Having worked at a coffee shop (a good one too), I would have flat out refused to serve a drink to someone if they informed me of a milk allergy. Milk is EVERYWHERE in a coffee shop, it’s impossible to prevent cross contamination.
You would have to have a completely separate milk-free bar with different staff.
Not sure why you would ever risk it. If you where that bad with an allergy you would make it yourself and not put you’re childs life into the hands of a stranger.
I never understand how people this allergic to common everyday products manage to survive for so long. Surely, as a toddler she would’ve been exposed to milk and died?
Ya if you got a sever allergic reactions to dairy. I’d skip coffee chains like costa
I worked as Starbucks. Everything is wet. Everything is covered in a film of milk. Especially when the people on the shift before you didnt give a fuck.
Heaven help you if it’s summer and you have a gaggle of frap enthusiasts in the line.
The cloth used to wipe down the wand likely hasn’t been changed in a few hours. So you have every single type of milk on it.
You are also putting your life in the hands of two people. One you hope can write semi legibly and the other you pray they can read the chicken scrawl the other wrote.
This is before any mistakes have been made.
Not writing down a milk alternative etc
*One Sip* is it takes to cause this level of reaction?
Honestly I’d be terrified to get anything from a cross contamination environment.
We’ve all seen them, they often don’t take much care and cross contamination is seriously dangerous for some. Fortunately not myself.
A lot of victim blaming here. The barista fucked up, regardless of whether they had an epipen on them at all times. RIP
I mean what are the odds of a Barista getting an order wrong or not understanding orders correctly. They’re pretty busy places. If she was that vulnerable Idk if she should be taking that chance in a place like Costa honestly. Especially if it came across as a preference for a diet etc and not a life or death thing. Really sad situation either way.
She was allergic to basically everything and didn’t carry an EpiPen?
She told the courts “I feel that she did not understand what I was saying, which is why I leaned forwards so that she could hear what I was saying.” So she doubted that they were actually listening and continued to let her drink it.
I don’t think people commenting saying things like *”well if I were allergic, I would not eat or drink anything when I’m out aacchhuuuaalllyy”* really understand how limiting it can be to live with a severe allergy (not to be confused with getting a bit farty from wheat).
You could get killed crossing the road, you could walk the long way around the outskirts of town.
The poor girl.
Might be just me but I’d not have a hot chocolate on way to dentist that seems like a bizarre choice to me