Mother of girl who died after drinking Costa hot chocolate describes 'living a nightmare'
Abimbola Duyile told ITV News her daughter's death has been like 'living in a nightmare', ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia reports
The mother of teenage girl who died from an allergic reaction after having one sip of a Costa Coffee hot chocolate has told ITV News of her grief, and is calling on the government to implement tougher allergy awareness legislation after her death.
Hannah Jacobs, who was 13, suffered a severe dairy allergy and died within hours of drinking a hot chocolate from the high street chain on February 8, 2023, East London Coroner’s Court was told.
Two weeks ago an inquest into her death concluded the teenager died after a “failure to follow the processes in place to discuss allergies.”
Abimbola Duyile told ITV News her daughter's death has been like "living in a nightmare", adding that she is angry and as she wants "the world to know how deadly allergies are".
"Sometimes I think I need to wake up from this dream, I need someone to pinch but it's not a dream, it's a nightmare and I'm living in it," she said.
Ms Duyile said she ordered two takeaway soya hot chocolates from the coffee chain - which was disputed by Costa staff in the inquest.
The mother said she had been “picky” about telling the coffee shop staff that her daughters had an allergy and they needed to clean the equipment when they made her drink.
The inquest heard the hot chocolate may have been made with cows milk and that Ms Duyile was not shown the allergen book. It was also noted that Hannah had not been carrying her prescribed EpiPen.
A post-mortem examination found Hannah died after suffering a hypersensitive anaphylactic reaction triggered by an ingredient in her drink that caused an allergic response.
"If the barista followed the procedure then I promise you, we wouldn't be in this situation. It makes me angry, very angry," Ms Duyile said.
"I don't think the world knows how deadly it is to be honest. If you can train your staff and use the word deadly, and I'm sorry because I use that word because it took my child, but if you say deadly I think it could change things."
At the time of Hannah's death, allergen training for new Costa staff involved a series of online modules that could be accessed at home, and a quiz that trainees had to pass, the inquest heard.
The court heard written evidence from Costa employees, one of whom said they had failed the quiz 20 times before passing.
Another said that they used Google Translate to help them when reading English.
After the inquest concluded, Costa Coffee released a statement calling Hannah's death a "tragedy".
"Understanding how this awful situation occurred is in the interest of everyone – our franchise partners, our customers, our team members, and the communities of which we are a part," a spokesperson said.
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Ms Duyile is pushing for allergy awareness to not be treated as a "tick boxing exercise" and for more information "in these industries and across society of the symptoms of anaphylaxis".
In 2016, a separate case of a 15-year-old girl who died following a severe allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger sandwich containing sesame, made national headlines.
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died after eating an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette from the high street chain before boarding a flight at Heathrow with her father and best friend.
Following her death, the law was changed to require all food outlets to display full ingredient and allergen labelling on every food item made on the premises and pre-packed for direct sale - including sandwiches, cakes and salads.
But her family, who established the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation food allergy charity, have called for the appointment of an “allergy tsar” to review “problems” related to diagnosis, treatment and education for schools and businesses surrounding allergens.
Ms Ednan-Laperouse's family have been present at the inquest of Ms Jacobs' inquest and are continuing to campaign for government intervention.
A Costa Coffee spokesperson said it had been partnered with The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation since 2021.
They said Costa is supportive of the work the foundation does and is in support of the "call for an Allergen Tsar.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of Hannah Jacobs, and all those impacted by this case.
“Department officials have been in ongoing discussions with the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation about improving support for people with allergies and ministers will carefully consider their views and any recommendations made by the coroner."
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