Inquest To Look Into British Girl Who Died After Drinking Costa Hot Chocolate

An inquest will begin next week to investigate the death of a teenage girl who died after suffering a suspected allergic reaction to a hot chocolate purchased from Costa Coffee, according to The Guardian.

Thirteen-year-old Hannah Jacobs, of Barking, East London, collapsed and died on February 8 last year following a suspected anaphylactic reaction to the hot chocolate from Costa Coffee.

According to The Guardian, Hannah and her mother had visited the Costa Coffee shop on the way to a dentist appointment. Despite Hannah's mother warning the barista that Hannah was intolerant of dairy and she should have soy milk, regular milk was in the drink.

Hannah had suffered from a number of food allergies since she was young to things like dairy, eggs, fish, and wheat. When she tasted the hot chocolate, she knew she had been given the wrong milk, and she felt acute distress.

The mother rushed Hannah to a pharmacy for help, where an EpiPen was administered to try and calm the allergic reaction. Emergency services rushed her to the hospital within minutes, but Hannah couldn't be revived and was pronounced dead at 1 pm.

According to LBC news, the death of Hannah reminds us of another case-that of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 from an allergic reaction to sesame seeds in a Pret a Manger baguette. That led the UK government to implement Natasha's Law in 2021, under which firms are compelled to label the allergens used in pre-packaged foods prepared on their premises.

Every year, some 10 people in Britain die from food allergies, while about 5,000 get hospitalised for severe reactions. Some 2.4 million people live with food allergies in the UK.