A grocery store is speaking out after a dancer died after eating cookies that were purchased from the store.
According to People, 25-year-old Órla Baxendale died on January 11 after going into anaphylactic shock, her family confirmed. Her family alleges that Baxendale went into anaphylactic shock after eating the cookies that were purchased from Strew Leonard’s that were mislabeled.
Baxendale was at an event when the dancer consumed the Vanilla Florentine cookies. While the container revealed “soy, wheat, and milk” were used to make the cookies, the label was not entirely accurate.
In a statement shared by Stew Leonard Jr., he revealed that their supplier “changed the recipe and started going from soy nuts to peanuts and our chief safety officer at Stew Leonard’s was never notified.” Now a family is left devastated.
As Leonard Jr. continued in his video statement, “It’s a sad day for us. We’re just all devastated, very sad. have four daughters, one of them is in their 20s. I can imagine how that family feels right now, and we’re all just very, very sad about this whole thing.”
According to People, Stew Leonard purchases their cookies from the wholesaler Cookie United and repackages them with their own label. Cookie United argues Leonard Jr.’s statement saying they did notify Stew Leonard of the change in their recipe.
“This product is sold under the Stew Leonard’s brand and repackaged at their facilities. The incorrect label was created by, and applied to, their product by Stew Leonard’s,” a spokesperson for Cookie’s United said in a statement.
“In the 24 hours since Cookies United learned of this tragedy we have been cooperating with the New York State Department of Agriculture and have been informed we are in compliance with all applicable rules and regulations relating to this product.”
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and the Department of Public Health have opened an investigation.
Correct labeling so that people who have food allergies can appropriately protect themselves is of utmost importance. I am devastated to learn of this incident and will work with partners to ensure that we can protect people with food allergies,” DPH Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said in a statement.
Baxendale is originally from East Lancashire, England. She moved to New York to pursue a career as a dancer. Our hearts are with her family.
