A professional dancer in New York City, USA, has died after eating an incorrectly labeled holiday cookie containing peanuts from the popular supermarket Stew Leonard’s leading to the store and wholesaler blaming each other for the tragedy.
A law firm representing her family said in a statement on Wednesday, January 24 that Órla Baxendale, 25, went into anaphylactic shock from a severe allergic reaction to a Vanilla Florentine cookie on January 11.
“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,” attorney Marijo Adimey said in the statement.
“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.”
Adimey alleged that an investigation into Baxendale’s death revealed “gross negligence and reckless conduct of the manufacturer and/or sellers” for not stating on the cookies’ packaging that the product contained peanuts.
“This failure in proper disclosure has led to this devastating yet preventable outcome,” the attorney wrote.
Baxendale, a UK native, ate the cookie at a social gathering in Connecticut, according to News 12.
The lady from Manchester in the UK moved to New York City to train as a scholarship student at the Ailey School in 2018, according to the school’s website.
Baxendale had performed during New York Fashion Week and had been involved in dance productions at Lincoln Center.
“I’m here with our family and, I mean we’re just all devastated, very sad. I have four daughters, one of them is in her 20s. I can imagine how that family feels right now,” Company CEO Stew Leonard Jr. said in the released video, according to News 12.
The wholesaler, Cookies United, however, claimed it did share the change in ingredients with the regional supermarket chain months before Baxendale’s 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.”
