Costa supervisor admits to utilizing Google translate for allergy coaching

The manager of a Costa where a 13-year-old girl died after drinking ‘soya milk’ hot chocolate has admitted to using Google translate to complete her allergy training.

Costa employee Ana Sanz, who was assistant manager of the Barking franchise at the time of Hannah Jacob’s death, also admitted that neither her or her mother were shown the ‘allergy book’ usually given to customers with allergies.

Hannah had ‘passed out’ and collapsed within half an hour of taking just one sip of her drink from a Costa franchise in Barking, East London, in February last year.

Ms Sanz, whose first language is Spanish, said: ‘You have to show them the book. We would know to clean the jug and the frother before preparing a drink for someone with allergies.’

Asked if she had used the translation tool to complete some of her online Costa allergy training, Ms Sanz added: ‘I used it sometimes.’

Asked if the company that owns Costa was happy with that, Ms Sanz replied: ‘Yes.’

She also suggested that other employees may also have completed parts of their allergy training with the help of a translator app.

Another employee had failed allergy training ’20 times’ before eventually passing, the court heard on Monday.

The inquest also heard that Hannah may have survived the ordeal had she been given an adrenaline injection sooner.

Dr Rahul Chodhari, of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, told a coroner that the 13-year-old was eventually given a dose that was too small for her age and weight.

Hannah was given a 150mg adrenaline Auto-Injector EpiPen – recommended for children aged six and under – around two minutes after entering a pharmacist and collapsing on the floor. 

Asked if it would have ‘made a difference’ if Hannah had been given two 300mg doses one after another, Dr Chodhari replied: ‘It’s hard to predict the outcome as we are so far down the anaphylaxis sequence.

‘But 150gm was certainly too small a dose to be given.

‘Even after giving adrenaline on time, you could continue to go downhill on an anaphylaxis cascade.

‘Hannah was 47 kilograms. 150mg was too small a dose. An earlier and higher-dose intramuscular injection could have saved Hannah’s life.

‘The time matters the most. If Hannah would have received [an injection at the] earliest [opportunity], chances are her life would have been saved.

‘I am personally very upset at losing such a vibrant young person.’

Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, co-founders of The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, the UK’s food allergy charity, told the inquest today: ‘We are devastated to be attending yet another inquest into the death of a child from a suspected food allergy.

‘Over the last year we have been supporting Hannah’s family – helping them to negotiate the complex and often bewildering process when a child suddenly dies, and when they are consumed by grief.

‘We must wait to see what comes out of the inquest over the next few days.

‘However, this case, like our daughter Natasha’s, and sadly so many others, underlines just how serious food allergies can be. 

‘They are not a lifestyle choice but a serious, unpredictable medical condition that can be potentially fatal. We all – individuals, companies and the Government – need to wake up to this fact and do everything we can to keep people with food allergies safe.

‘Allergy training needs to be strengthened so that it is not simply a tick box exercise, but rather a set of protocols that keep people with food allergies safe from harm. How many more children must die before we start taking food allergy seriously.’

Despite her mother telling Costa staff of her daughter’s severe allergies to cow’s milk and asking them to thoroughly clean equipment, Hannah immediately claimed the drink wasn’t made with soya milk upon trying it, East London Coroner’s Court heard.

She began vomiting and collapsed immediately after being rushed to a nearby pharmacy. Despite being injected with an EpiPen and ambulance staff attempting desperately to resuscitate her, Hannah died in hospital a short time later.

Her mother, Abimbola Duyile, told the inquest that her ‘caring, outspoken’ daughter had been affected ‘immediately’ after taking a sip of her soya hot chocolate with marshmallows – a product she had drunk before from the same Costa outlet.

She said Hannah had suffered with extremely severe allergies since being diagnosed as a toddler, which led to her avoiding meat, eggs, fish and wheat following previous mild allergic reactions and tests.

Ms Duyile said that her daughter rarely ate out other than at restaurants they trusted with her serious allergies, such as Nando’s – where she enjoyed chicken and chips.

Hannah would also rarely eat at friend’s homes unless her mother trusted them enough to take sufficient care of her allergies. The inquest was told that no previous reaction had been serious enough for Hannah to be injected with an EpiPen.

It was also heard that she was not allowed to take an EpiPen to school with her, and that the dentist she visited may have had an EpiPen on site, although one was not offered during Hannah’s reaction.

Ms Duyile said Hannah had enjoyed a soya hot chocolate at Costa on several occasions before, having been convinced by her mother to try a hot drink there.

In a statement read to the court, the bereaved mother described her daughter, saying: ‘Hannah Jacobs was my daughter. Hannah loved life.

‘She was caring, affectionate, funny, outspoken and energetic. She was 13 when she died – an age in which we all change so quickly. I have never known the adult Hannah.

‘Hannah had a strong sense of right and wrong. I always said she would have been a great lawyer. She had never suffered a serious allergic reaction that required her to go to hospital or [to have an injection].

‘Hannah understood her allergies were life threatening. I will always remember her as a happy child so full of happiness and promise. I will never know the woman that Hannah would have eventually become.’

On the morning of February 8, Hannah had not gone to school because she had a dentist appointment at 11am.

Her mother told the inquest she had asked her daughter if she wanted to get a drink at Costa prior to her appointment.

‘Hannah had been to the Costa Coffee shop [in Barking] several times before, and always had her usual hot chocolate,’ Ms Duyile said.

‘I said to the barista that we would both like a soya hot chocolate and explained that Hannah would like marshmallows.

‘I explained that Hannah is severely allergic to cows milk and requested a clean jug and frother. I said, ‘I’m sorry to be a pain but my child has severe allergies’.

‘We clearly stated to the woman taking the order that soya milk should be used as my daughter is intolerant to lactose.’

The mother told the inquest her daughter had even lightly reprimanded her for being so ‘strict’ with staff.

But a Costa employee at the branch later took the stand and confirmed that an allergy book is supposed to be shown to customers who state they have an allergy.

The pair quickly left the Costa shop and went to the dentist, as they were late for the 11am appointment.

Her mother explained that whilst in the waiting room: ‘Hannah took her first sip and abruptly got up and went to the toilet.

‘She called me [from the toilet] and shouted: ‘That is not soya milk’. She had an immediate reaction to that drink. Hannah kept throwing up. It was everywhere in the toilet and the dentist reception [area].’

Ms Duyile told the dentist that Hannah was having an allergic reaction and needed to go to the pharmacy – but was not offered an EpiPen by the dentist, who the court heard may have had one on site.

The mother and daughter rushed to a pharmacy they knew very near to the dentist, where Assistant Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said CCTV showed Hannah collapsed ‘almost immediately’ after entering.

She was given antihistamine tablets and a pharmacist later administered adrenaline using an EpiPen whilst another customer called an ambulance.

Ambulance crews soon arrived after being called and attempted to resuscitate Hannah, who was soon rushed to Newham General Hospital shortly before 11.30am, where attempts to resuscitate her continued.

But doctors emerged close to midday and told a devastated Ms Duyile they had decided to stop their attempts to resuscitate her daughter, because it was ‘clear’ it wasn’t working.

Dr Radcliffe said: ‘Sadly, there was nothing more they could do. She was gone. [Doctors] told you she had passed away.’

Costa employee Ana Sanz, who was an assistant manager at the time of Hannah’s death but was not working until later that day, admitted that she had used Google Translate to help her complete Costa allergy training, as her first language is Spanish.

She suggested that other employees she worked with may have also done the same.

The inquest, which is expected to last until next Monday, continues tomorrow.