A 12-year-old girl died after drinking a milkshake contaminated with hazelnut residue from a previous drink, an inquest has concluded. Mia Shay St Hilaire suffered a severe allergic reaction after drinking a Twix milkshake at the Pop Inn Cafe in Southwark Park Road, south London, in August 2023.
The youngster, from Sydenham, had a hazelnut allergy. Her drink had been made in a blender that had previously been used to make a Kinder Bueno milkshake and had not been cleaned. CCTV showed cafe operator Baris Yucel preparing Mia’s drink without washing the blender first.
Anaphylaxis and hospital care
Assistant coroner Briony Ballard said Mia had consumed some of the milkshake before developing rapidly progressing anaphylaxis. She then later collapsed at her aunt’s home. Despite extensive emergency treatment and being transferred to intensive care at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Mia died.
Her parents, Adrian and Chanel, said their daughter ‘was, and is, deeply loved and she will never be forgotten’. They thanked the coroner for investigating Mia’s death and said they wanted to see major changes to the way food allergies are managed.
Call for allergy rating system
The couple called for a separate, clearly displayed rating for allergy management, similar to existing food hygiene ratings. ‘For families living with food allergies, eating out should not mean they are at risk,’ they said.
‘We hope that lessons will be learned from Mia’s death and that changes will be made to prevent other families enduring the devastation that we now have to live with.’ They added: ‘We want to make sure that change is Mia’s legacy so that we can help to save lives in the future.’
Legal action and fine
Southwark Council brought a case against the cafe, with Yucel pleading guilty to six offences in January 2025. They included failing to make allergen information available to customers, failing to prevent allergen contamination during food preparation and serving food containing an allergen that should not have been present. Yucel was fined £18,000 and given a 100-hour community order.
Michelle Victor, a lawyer representing Mia’s parents, said the inquest had highlighted ‘serious concerns’ about how food allergies are understood and managed in the food service industry. She called on the Food Standards Agency and other authorities to review the current system and consider further reforms.
Broader calls for reform
Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, whose daughter Natasha died aged 15 after eating a baguette containing sesame, also said more needed to be done. She said: ‘Food allergies are not a preference or a choice, they are a serious, unpredictable medical condition which for some, like Mia, can be fatal.’ She added that current systems for monitoring food allergens were ‘inadequate’.
Mia’s family hope the changes made in her memory can help prevent another family from suffering the same loss.
