Mother of 13-year-old who died after Costa scorching chocolate blasts chain

The mother of a 13-year-old girl who died after taking a single sip of a Costa hot chocolate yesterday accused the chain of treating allergy training ‘as a tick-box exercise’.

Hannah Jacobs, who was allergic to dairy products, suffered an anaphylactic reaction and died within hours of consuming the incorrectly made drink on February 8, 2023.

A coroner concluded that the teen died due to the failure of Costa staff ‘to follow the processes in place to discuss allergies’ and failure of communication with her mother, Abimbola Duyile.

In a statement read on her behalf, a devastated Ms Duyile said: ‘Hannah was just entering adolescence and learning to be independent, taking ownership of her allergies when she was tragically taken from us. She had known from a young age what her allergies were and took them very seriously.

‘I have always been extremely diligent in managing Hannah’s allergies and she had never suffered a serious allergic reaction prior to this incident.

Hannah Jacobs, who was allergic to dairy products, suffered an anaphylactic reaction and died within hours of consuming the incorrectly made drink on February 8, 2023

Hannah’s mother, Abimbola Duyile, holds a picture of her daughter as solicitor outside East London Coroner’s Court following the conclusion of the inquest today

Pictured: Costa Coffee branch on Station Parade in Barking, east London, where Abimbola Duyile bought her 13-year-old daughter Hannah Jacobs a hot chocolate

‘Hannah loved life. She was a vivacious, caring, affectionate, outspoken and energetic child with a strong sense of right and wrong.’

She added: ‘Having heard all the evidence over the last week it is clear to me that although the food service industry and medical professionals are required to have allergy training, this training is not taken seriously enough.

‘Better awareness is needed in these industries and across society of the symptoms of anaphalxis.’

Ms Duyile held a framed photograph of Hannah and cried as the statement was read out.

Hannah had been at the dentist when she took her first sip of the drink. She then abruptly went to the toilet and shouted ‘that was not soya milk’. The coroner also noted ‘neither Hannah or her mother were carrying an epi-pen’. The inquest previously heard that, 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.

One Costa employee said they had failed the quiz 20 times before passing. Another said their husband had accompanied them to work on their first day to help translate for them, and that they used Google Translate to help them when reading English.

In a statement read on behalf of Hannah’s mother, Abi Duyile, today she said: ‘Hannah was just entering adolescence and learning to be independent, taking ownership of her allergies when she was tragically taken from us’

On February 8, 2023, Ms Duyile ordered Hannah and herself a hot chocolate from their local Costa before heading to a dentist appointment. But when Hannah took a sip of the drink in the waiting room of the dental practice, she immediately told her mother the drink hadn’t been made with soy milk

Ms Duyile told the hearing she rushed Hannah to a chemist after complaining of chest pains and that her lips and mouth were very swollen and itchy

Hannah was pronounced dead at Newham General Hospital in East London (file picture)

Ms Duyile added that ‘treating allergy training as a tick-box exercise is not acceptable’. She said it was ‘unacceptable’ that a person could be allowed to retake the test 20 times.

Assistant coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe told East London Coroner’s Court: ‘The root cause of this death is a failure to follow the processes in place to discuss allergies combined with a failure of communication between the mother and the barista.’

Faton Abrashi, a regional operations manager for Costa Coffee stores in London, whose responsibilities include allergy procedures for staff, previously told the inquest that only Costa baristas with specific allergy safety training were permitted to serve customers who had said they had an allergy when ordering.

Mr Abrashi confirmed that, as of February 2023, there was no requirement to complete the online modules in the presence of colleagues and they could be done at home.

He said the online training is provided only in English, with no other language options, and he, as a regional manager, would not be aware how many times a trainee had attempted the quiz before they passed.

The inquest previously heard there was a factual dispute about the order, but Ms Duyile says she asked for two soya hot chocolates and asked staff to thoroughly clean the equipment.

A post-mortem examination found Hannah died after suffering a hypersensitive anaphylactic reaction triggered by an ingredient in her hot chocolate that caused an allergic response.

Costa Coffee said: ‘The loss of Hannah is a tragedy, and our heartfelt thoughts remain with her family and friends.’