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The mum of a 13-year-old girl who died after sipping a dairy hot chocolate from Costa has said allergy training for staff should just not be treated as a ‘tick box exercise’.
Abimbola Duyile sobbed as she clutched a photo of daughter Hannah Jacobs outside East London coroner’s court, where the teenager’s death was attributed to ‘a failure to follow the processes in place to discuss allergies’.
Assistant coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe also said there had been ‘failure of communication’ between the coffee shop staff and Ms Duyile, who had ordered the drinks.
Hannah, who had been allergic to dairy products, along with fish and eggs, since she was a toddler, died within hours of taking the drink on February 8, 2022.
Giving evidence, Ms Duyile told the court she had been careful about checking with the staff before they prepared the drinks, saying: ‘I made sure that the staff was aware that this was not a joke.’
She said she was being ‘extra picky’ and so specific about the order that she ‘might sound like a crazy mum’ but her attitude was that she needed ‘to be straight with the staff’.
Urmi Akter, who took the order, gave evidence with the help of a Bengali interpreter.
She used her legal right under coroners’ rules not to answer a series of questions that could be seen as incriminating.
Ms Akter acknowledged being told about a dairy allergy but declined to reply when asked why she had not followed Costa’s own rules and shown Ms Duyile a book that is kept under the till which includes ingredients and details of how the drink is made.
She also did not answer questions about whether she was given training in her own language, if refresher training had been provided, if she knew what an allergen was, and also if she knew the potential consequences of being subject to any allergy.
The barista was further asked if anyone checked her understanding of the training and if she ever wrote anything on a drink to identify what is in it.
Another question related to whether she was ever told about using different jugs for different drinks.
She was also shown a document which said a ‘product nutrition and allergy guide must be referred to every time’ and if she was aware of this.
Emily Slocombe, representing Hannah’s family, also asked why Ms Akter did not confirm whether cows’ milk was being used after she had been told of Hannah’s dietary needs and if she had told the barista who went on to make the drink about the allergy.
Ms Akter did not give an answer to any of those questions.
Faton Abrashi, a regional operations manager for Costa Coffee stores in London whose responsibilities include allergy procedures for staff, told the inquest that Costa baristas were only permitted to serve customers who had stated they had an allergy when ordering if they had completed specific allergy safety training.
The court was shown online modules used to train new staff regarding allergens that could be accessed on a mobile phone and included a quiz trainees had to successfully complete.
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 only provided 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 court was told of an example where a Costa barista had failed the online quiz 20 times before passing.
Dr Radcliffe said: ‘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.’
The coroner also noted that on the day of her death, ‘neither Hannah or her mother were carrying an epi-pen that had been prescribed’.
A post-mortem examination found Hannah died after suffering from a hypersensitive anaphylactic reaction triggered by an ingredient in her hot chocolate that caused an allergic response.
In a statement read outside court after the inquest, Ms Duyile said: ‘Better awareness is really needed in these industries and across society of the symptoms of anaphylaxis.
‘Allowing people who serve food and drinks to retake an allergy training test for 20 times is not acceptable.
‘Treating allergy training as a tick box exercise is not acceptable, and the consequence of all of this is that my daughter is no longer here.’
Hannah was just entering adolescence and learning to be independent, taking ownership of her allergies when she was tragically taken from us.
She went on: ‘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 loved life. She was a vivacious, caring, affectionate, outspoken and energetic child with a strong sense of right and wrong.
‘Hannah had everything to live for and was so full of life and promise.’
A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: ‘The loss of Hannah is a tragedy, and our heartfelt thoughts remain with her family and friends.
‘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.
‘We have listened to everything the Coroner has said this week and will carefully consider her comments together with any report she may issue and respond appropriately.’
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