13-year-old girl reportedly dies after drinking Costa coffee

Hannah Jacobs, a 13-year-old girl from Barking, east London, is believed to have died on 8 February 2023 after drinking a Costa Coffee hot chocolate drink that triggered her severe dairy allergy. Now her mother is fighting for justice.

Jacobs was with his mother, Abimbola Duyile, at a branch of Costa Coffee in Station parade, barking, when they stopped to order a drink. According to court documents got by the keeperA staff member allegedly did not follow established procedures to address allergies before preparing the teen’s drink. Jacobs, who had suffered from severe allergies to dairy, fish and eggs since early childhood, tragically died hours after consuming her hot chocolate drink, which had been mistakenly made with cow’s milk instead of soy milk, as her mother had requested, the report said.

Assistant coroner Shirley Radcliffe described the incident as a “miscommunication” between Jacobs’ mother and cafe staff. The coroner also noted that neither Jacobs nor her mother had an EpiPen with them on the day of her death to treat her hypersensitive anaphylactic reaction, despite being prescribed the medication.

“The root cause of this death was a failure to follow processes in place to discuss allergies, combined with a lack of communication between the mother and the barista,” Radcliffe said.

Today, Duyile is fighting for justice on behalf of her daughter. She wants Costa Coffee to change its training policies. At a recent hearing at East London Coroners Court, the grieving mother claimed she had specifically asked staff to clean their equipment before making her daughter’s drink. She claimed she pointed out that hot chocolate was originally made with milk and should be avoided due to her daughter’s severe dairy allergy.

Duyile testified that she had always been “extremely diligent” in managing Jacobs’ condition, noting that the teenager had never had a serious allergic reaction before the tragic event. During the hearing, Duyile expressed her anguish by holding up a photo of her beloved 13-year-old daughter. She described the late teenager as “lively, caring, affectionate, outspoken and energetic,” noting that she “had everything going for her and was full of life and promise.”

Source: Yui Mok – PA Images / Getty

At the hearing, Costa Coffee staff revealed problems with the company’s allergy training policy.

According to Birmingham Liveemployees provided written testimonials Participants were able to see where their training was lacking. One employee admitted to failing the allergy test 20 times before passing, while another revealed that her husband had to help her translate on the first day. Some staff members also resorted to Google Translate to understand English documents.

Faton Abrashi, regional operations manager for Costa Coffee in London and responsible for allergy procedures, testified that Costa baristas were only allowed to serve customers who declared they had allergies if they had completed specific allergy safety training. Abrashi confirmed that as of February 2023, trainees were not required to complete online modules in the presence of colleagues – they could do so from home. He noted that the online training was only available in English and that as regional manager, he was not informed of how many attempts each trainee made before passing the test.

Duyile is urging Costa Coffee to implement “robust training” on food allergies and “additional safeguards by implementing a process to print order details and stick them on coffee cups”.

At the hearing, she added: “After hearing all the evidence over the last week, it is clear to me that while the restaurant industry and healthcare professionals are required to have allergy training, it is not really taken seriously enough. There is a need for greater awareness of the symptoms of anaphylaxis in these industries and in society as a whole.”

Costa Coffee, through a spokesperson, said they were looking into Duyile’s claims, THE Tutor note.

“Hannah’s loss is a tragedy, and our heartfelt thoughts go out to her family and friends. Understanding how this terrible situation could have happened is in the best interest of all: our franchise partners, our customers, our team members and the communities we are a part of. We have listened to everything the coroner has said this week and will carefully review her comments and any reports she may release, and respond appropriately.”

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