A teenager with severe dairy allergies was served hot chocolate made with cow’s milk by a Costa barista after an alleged miscommunication, an inquest heard today.
Hannah Jacobs, 13, died just hours after taking a sip of a drink her mother had ordered for her in Barking, east London.
Abimbola Duyile says she asked for two hot chocolates with soya milk, telling Costa employee Urmi Akter that her daughter had allergies.
However, giving evidence at East London Coroners Court today, Ms Akter told the hearing that Ms Duyile had asked for a regular hot chocolate and a medium hot chocolate.
Hannah had taken a sip of a hot chocolate purchased from a branch of Costa Coffee

Hannah Jacobs, 13, from Barking, east London, died following a suspected anaphylactic reaction

Hannah was pronounced dead at Newham General Hospital in east London.
She said the mother asked for her medium drink to be “very hot” and her daughter’s to be “normal.”
Ms Akter admitted that Ms Duyile had told her about her daughter’s dairy allergies, but she simply asked that the pot used to froth the milk be washed thoroughly.
Ms Akter, who was accompanied by a Bengali translator, said she did not hear Ms Duyile say she wanted two soya milk hot chocolates – although the mother said that was what she had ordered yesterday.
Ms Akter said she washed the jug between preparing the two hot chocolates – both made with cow’s milk by her colleague Nicoleta Matei – as the mother had requested.
Hannah started vomiting in a dental office after taking just one sip of her drink.
In a statement read to the court by assistant coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe, Ms Akter, who had been working at Costa Coffee’s Barking franchise for eight months at the time of the incident in February last year, said Hannah appeared “angry” with her mother as they ordered their drinks.
“The mother said, ‘I want two hot chocolates, one small, one medium… Can you wash the (milk) jug because my daughter is allergic to dairy products.’”
“You said, ‘You’re asking me to wash the pitcher but hot chocolate is made with milk, but you say she’s allergic to milk.’
“(Mrs Duyile) said, ‘It’s okay, just wash the jug.’
“You placed the order with your colleague, Nicoleta, to prepare the drinks.
“You took the pitcher and washed it properly (after preparing the mother’s drink). You returned it to your colleague.”
Despite Costa allergy training requiring staff to show an “allergy book” to customers who reported allergies, Ms Akter failed to do so, the hearing heard.
Dr Radcliffe, continuing to read from Mrs Akter’s police report, continued: “You said, ‘You’re asking me to wash the pitcher, but hot chocolate is made with milk.’
“(Mrs Duyile) said, ‘That’s very good. Give me very warm milk and my daughter will be normal.’
“Your colleague prepared the drinks – the very hot one first – and passed them (to the mother).
“You then took the pitcher and, as the mother had asked, you washed it properly.
“You then gave it to your colleague who prepared the (second) drink.
“(Mrs Duyile) said, ‘Thank you, dear,’ and then she left.
“(You say) you have four plant milks. “They have to ask for it and we will give it to them.”
“You say, ‘She never asked for non-dairy, she just asked me to wash the jar.’
“You were asked: have you thought about showing the book on intolerance?”
Dr Radcliffe then asked Ms Akter a series of additional questions.
However, Julia Kendrick, representing Ms Akter, continually warned her client that she was not required to answer questions that could expose her to criminal liability under Rule 22.
Dr Radcliffe asked: “Have you ever had difficulty understanding what someone was saying behind the (Perspex) screen (of the Costa till)?”
“Not too much,” Ms. Akter replied. “Sometimes…”
Dr Radcliffe continued: “In your training, if someone mentions they have an allergy, there’s the allergy book under the cash register…
“Why didn’t you show the book on allergies (to Mrs. Duyile)?”
Warned by Mr. Kendrick, who delivered “Rule 22” before her client could respond, Mr. Akter said: “No response.”
“Am I not going to get answers to these Rule 22 questions?” Dr. Radcliffe asked.
“Yes,” Mrs. Kendrick replied.
Dr Radcliffe nevertheless persisted, asking: “Didn’t you find it strange that the mother asked you to wash the carafe between preparing the two drinks when they were both prepared in the same way?
“From what I understand, you said the mother mentioned the dairy allergy.
“The book was not shown to the mother, and the only thing she did was to prepare a drink for one, to wash the pitcher and make the other drink…”
Emily Slocombe, Hannah’s family lawyer, also received “no response” or “no comment” responses from Ms Akter to her questions.
“Do you remember receiving any allergy training?” Ms Slocombe asked.
“Have you had any training in your native language? Have you had any refresher training? Did you understand what an allergen was? Did you know the potential consequences of exposure to allergens?”
“No answer,” Ms. Akter replied to all questions.
“You heard Abi (Ms Duyile) say she ordered two soya hot chocolates,” Ms Slocombe said.
“Is that what you heard?”
Ms. Akter replied again: “No answer.”
Ms Slocombe added: “You heard in Abi’s (mother’s) evidence that she said you didn’t answer her, you didn’t say anything to her.
“If you had taken out the allergy book and shown and discussed it with Hannah’s mother, that would have been an opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings, wouldn’t it?
“You didn’t repeat the order to Abi, did you?
“Knowing a severe allergy to dairy products, why didn’t you confirm that cow’s milk was used?
“Since you took the order, have you spoken to Nicoleta about it?”
Ms Akter again did not answer questions.
After suffering an allergic reaction to her drink – which she immediately told her mother was not “soya milk” – Hannah began vomiting at a dental surgery in Barking, where she had gone for an emergency check-up and extraction.
Dentist Iqra Farhad told the inquest she offered Ms Duyile an EpiPen containing 300mg of adrenaline, which doctors said could have saved her life.
But Ms Farhad, giving evidence via video link from Pakistan, said Ms Duyile refused the Epi-Pen and instead went with her daughter to get antihistamines from a nearby pharmacy.
“When I spoke to the patient, she told me she was fine and wanted the extraction done today.
“(Hannah) coughed up a white liquid. The mother was fine. When the child (went to the bathroom), the mother asked me to reschedule the appointment.
“There was no sign of panic or distress.”
Dr Radcliffe asked: “You know that an Epi-Pen can save lives and that it is safe to use it if you are unsure?”
“Yes,” Mrs. Farhad replied.
“And you had EpiPens on site?” the coroner added.
Ms Farhad said: “Yes. When the child left the room, I think one of the nurses asked mom if she needed an EpiPen, which mom declined.
“I am a mother of a daughter with a severe nut allergy. The doctors told me when to administer an EpiPen.
“Mom mentioned that she was going to the pharmacy to buy some cetirizine (an antihistamine).
“I didn’t think we needed an EpiPen at this point.
Ms Duyile shook her head in the coroner’s court as she listened to some of Ms Farhad’s answers.
The investigation is continuing.