A 12-year-old girl died after suffering a severe allergic reaction to a milkshake contaminated with hazelnut residue from an unwashed blender at a London café in the United Kingdom, an inquest has concluded.
Mia Shay St Hilaire, from Sydenham, south London, had a known tree nut allergy when she visited the Pop Inn Café on Southwark Park Road with her aunt and sister in August 2023.
She ordered a Twix milkshake, unaware that the blender used to prepare it had previously been used to make a Kinder Bueno milkshake containing hazelnuts.
CCTV footage showed that café operator Baris Yucel failed to clean the blender between preparing the two drinks. The coroner concluded that hazelnut residue from the earlier drink contaminated Mia’s milkshake.
Assistant coroner Briony Ballard said Mia consumed some of the drink before developing rapidly progressing anaphylaxis. She later collapsed at her aunt’s home and was taken for emergency treatment before being transferred to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Despite extensive efforts to save her life, Mia died several days later.
Her death has now prompted renewed calls for tougher measures to protect people living with food allergies.
Mia’s parents, Adrian and Chanel, said their daughter’s death had left the family devastated and argued that people with allergies need clearer information when choosing where to eat.
They have called for a separate allergy management rating for food businesses, displayed alongside the existing food hygiene rating. They said such a system would allow customers with allergies to make better informed decisions about where they eat.
The case had already resulted in criminal proceedings against Yucel. Southwark Council said he pleaded guilty to six food safety offences, including failing to provide visible allergen information, failing to manage allergen contamination and serving food containing an allergenic ingredient that should not have been present.
He was fined £18,000 and given a 100 hour community order at Croydon Magistrates Court in January 2025.
The case has highlighted the potentially devastating consequences of poor allergen management in restaurants and cafés. Food safety specialists have stressed that even tiny amounts of an allergen can trigger a life threatening reaction in people with severe allergies.
For Mia’s family, however, the issue goes far beyond food safety rules.
They said their daughter was deeply loved and would never be forgotten, adding that they hope meaningful changes will emerge from her death.
The family also urged authorities and the Food Standards Agency to strengthen the way allergy risks are managed across the food industry.
