US Student With Peanut Allergy Dies After Restaurant Changed Its Recipe

A 23-year-old Texas college student, Alison Pickering, tragically passed away after an accidental exposure to peanuts. Her family revealed that she unknowingly ingested the allergen during a date at a familiar restaurant.

Despite being highly cautious and aware of her peanut allergy, Pickering ordered a dish she had consumed previously: Mahi-Mahi. However, an undisclosed change in the restaurant's recipe led to a deadly allergic reaction.

Her family is now advocating for increased awareness of food allergies, emphasizing the importance of clear communication between restaurants and customers. They hope to prevent similar tragedies by encouraging establishments to disclose ingredient changes and potential allergens.

"She would repeatedly go to the same restaurants and order the same dishes, you know. And that was a common thing," Alison's father, Grover Pickering, told CBS News.

Her parents revealed that this time, the dish was different from previous visits because the restaurant had altered the recipe to include peanut sauce. According to Allison's obituary, this change was not "disclosed" on the menu. Grover also told CBS News that the waitstaff was unaware of the modification.

"She took a few bites, realized something was wrong," said Grover. "She did her Epipen. The ambulance came. She actually walked to the ambulance talking to them, but somewhere along the way things went downhill."

Allison suffered "severe anaphylactic shock," as stated in her obituary. Anaphylaxis is a "life-threatening allergic reaction that occurs rapidly," and in its most severe form, it can cause a person to "lose consciousness," become "unable to breathe," and experience "insufficient blood flow to vital organs," according to the U.K.'s National Health Service and Cleveland Clinic.

This is what happened to Allison, her parents said, which led them to advocate for Texas' Sergio Lopez Food Allergy Awareness Act. The proposed legislation would require food service establishments to train their staff on food allergen safety, with hopes to extend this requirement to restaurant staff nationwide.

"It's tragic and it doesn't need to happen to anyone else," Grover told CBS News of his daughter's death.

He mentioned that the family also hoped to collaborate with the Texas Restaurant Association to help "identify" guidelines that could improve communication between restaurants and customers regarding ingredients.

"I know we're going to save lives by doing this," his wife Joy Pickering said.

Allison's family remembers her as someone who "loved people" and had a passion for "working with children," according to her obituary.