The parents of a 12-year-old girl who died after drinking a contaminated milkshake have called for a separate allergy management rating for food businesses, saying consumers need more than food hygiene ratings to make informed choices.
Mia Shay St Hilaire, from Sydenham, suffered a severe allergic reaction after drinking a Twix milkshake at the Pop Inn Cafe on Southwark Park Road, London, in August 2023, while visiting with her aunt and sister. She had a hazelnut allergy.
Inquest findings
An inquest at London Inner South Coroner’s Court concluded that the drink contained hazelnut residue from a Kinder Bueno milkshake previously prepared in the same unwashed blender. CCTV evidence showed that cafe operator Baris Yucel had not cleaned the blender before preparing Mia’s milkshake.
Assistant coroner Briony Ballard said Mia had consumed some of the Twix milkshake “which had been cross-contaminated with hazelnut residue from a Kinder Bueno milkshake previously prepared in the same unwashed blender.” She developed rapidly progressing anaphylaxis and later collapsed at her aunt’s home.
Despite extensive emergency treatment and transfer to intensive care at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Mia died.
Parents' tribute and call for change
Mia’s parents, Adrian and Chanel, said in a statement: “We would like to thank the coroner for her careful and thorough investigation into the death of our beautiful daughter, Mia.” They said they are convinced that significant changes are needed to protect people living with food allergies.
“Consumers rely on food hygiene ratings when deciding where it is safe to eat, but they do not tell us anything about the way a food business runs allergy management systems,” they said. “There should be a separate, clearly displayed rating dedicated to allergy management, like the food hygiene rating.”
“No family should ever have to lose a child in these circumstances. If the local authority had ensured that the cafe’s allergy management responsibilities had been properly understood, and put into practice, we believe Mia would still be alive today.”
Legal action and wider calls for reform
Southwark Council brought a case against the cafe. In January 2025, Mr Yucel pleaded guilty to all six offences, including not making allergen advice available or visible to consumers, failing to manage allergen contamination during food production, and serving food containing an allergenic ingredient that was not supposed to be present. He was fined £18,000 and given a 100-hour community order.
Michelle Victor, partner at law firm Leigh Day, which represents Mia’s parents, said the evidence highlighted serious concerns about how food allergies are understood, managed and monitored within the food service industry. The family call on the Food Standards Agency and relevant authorities to review the current framework and consider meaningful reforms.
Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, founder of Natasha’s Foundation, whose daughter died aged 15 from an allergy to sesame, said: “The inquest into Mia’s death illustrates just how far we still have to go to improve awareness, understanding and regulation of food allergies.” She added that food allergen regulations should be as important as food hygiene, but current monitoring systems are inadequate.
