An inquest into the death of 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs will begin next week to explore the circumstances of a suspected allergic reaction to a Costa Coffee drink.
Hannah, from Barking, east London, died on February 8 last year after a suspected anaphylactic reaction to a hot chocolate drink.
Her mother ordered herself and Hannah a hot chocolate with soy milk from the local branch before heading to a dentist appointment.
Hannah had severe allergies to dairy, eggs, fish and wheat, which she had been diagnosed with as a young child and had been well managed by her family throughout her life.
According to law firm Leigh Day, Hannah’s mother informed the Costa barista about her daughter’s dairy allergy.
Hannah, from Barking, east London, died on February 8 last year after a suspected anaphylactic reaction to a hot chocolate drink sold by Costa Coffee.
But when Hannah took a sip of the drink in the waiting room of the dental office, she immediately told her mother that the drink had not been made with soy milk.
The couple then ran to a nearby pharmacy for help, where staff gave Hannah an EpipPen, an emergency treatment designed to combat a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
But despite this and the fact that an ambulance arrived shortly afterwards to take her to the hospital, resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
Hannah was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. that day.
The inquest will take place at East London Coroner’s Court on Monday.
It is expected to last a week and will examine how Hannah died through testimony from 11 witnesses and experts.
Costa Coffee has been contacted for comment.
Experts estimate that 10 Britons die each year from food allergic reactions and that 5,000 people are hospitalised for severe reactions.
The latest Government figures suggest that around 2.4 million adults are living with a food allergy in the UK, and that hospital admissions for severe reactions have more than tripled in the past 20 years.
Allergies can cause a variety of symptoms, but the most serious is a dangerous inflammation of the airways called anaphylaxis.
This can make breathing difficult or even impossible and can cause the body to go into a cardiac emergency, such as cardiac arrest, due to lack of oxygen.
Children with allergies are considered to be at particular risk of severe reactions because, due to their smaller body size, small amounts of allergens cause larger reactions.
Allergies are also often discovered in childhood, meaning parents may not have an emergency injection on hand if an allergic reaction occurs.
Bereaved families of those who have lost children to allergic reactions have repeatedly called on the Government to appoint an allergy tsar to improve NHS services and allergy awareness, to prevent avoidable illness and death.
Recently, more than 50 activists and experts, including former Towie star Megan McKenna and the island of love Jack Fowler said the country was not doing enough to support the millions of Britons living with allergies.
In the open letter, the coalition said the lack of a national allergy leader has been raised “time and again by coroners at inquests” into those who have died from severe reactions, even to products they believed to be safe.
However, of the 45 such leaders Appointed by NHS England, which cover issues ranging from obesity to autism, none are dedicated to supporting people living with allergies.
