In a tragic instance, a 25-year-old professional dancer in New York died after eating a Stew Leonard’s holiday cookie that was mislabeled as containing peanuts.
Attorney Marijo Adimey stated on Wednesday that Órla Baxendale had a serious allergic reaction after eating a Vanilla Florentine cookie on January 11, resulting in anaphylactic shock.
The dessert was devoured by UK native Baxendale at a Connecticut social function, as per News 12. She had previously performed in dance productions at Lincoln Center and at New York Fashion Week.
The declaration indicates that peanuts are an ingredient in the cookies, but the manufacturer did not inform Stew Leonard of this.
“Órla’s passing stemmed from an unfortunate incident involving the consumption of a cookie manufactured by Cookies United and sold by Stew Leonard’s, which contained undisclosed peanuts,” Adimey said.
“This tragic oversight has led to the recall of the Vanilla Florentine Cookies from Stew Leonard’s stores in Danbury and Newington, CT, for the period of November 6 – December 31, 2023.”
As a precaution, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection worked with Stew Leonard’s to remove all baked products made by Cookies United from all of the company’s Connecticut stores.
Stew Leonard and Cookies United blame each other
Meanwhile, Stew Leonard’s president and CEO stated that this had never happened previously and that they obtained the cookies from a Long Island bakery, knowing that the contents in their Vanilla Florentine Cookies had altered.
“Unfortunately, we are buying these cookies from a company who never told us they changed the ingredients. We sold them in good faith and one customer was affected. We were devastated to learn this news and our family is sending our deepest condolences,” the CEO said in a statement.
Cookies United, the wholesaler, stated that they had informed Baxendale of the change in ingredients months before his death.
“Stew Leonard’s claimed in an earlier press release that “the cookies contain peanuts, which was an ingredient not disclosed to Stew Leonard’s by the manufacturer,’” United Cookies wrote in a statement Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, considering the tragedy of these circumstances, we need to point out that Stew Leonard’s was notified by Cookies United in July of 2023 that this product now contains peanuts, and all products shipped to them have been labeled accordingly.”
Cookies United expressed profound condolences to the deceased’s family, saying they “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 DCP Commissioner describes the tragedy as ‘heartbreaking’
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection’s Food, Standards, and Product Safety Division (DCP) said it is investigating the incident alongside officials from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, as well as the Food and Drug Administration and Stew Leonard’s.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli in a statement, The DCP Commissioner describes the tragedy as ‘heartbreaking’.that they will conduct a thorough investigation and prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future.”
