A new lawsuit has revealed how a simple cookie recipe change led to the death of a New York City ballet dancer “in the prime of her life.”
Órla Baxendale, 25, died Jan. 11 from anaphylactic shock after eating vanilla Florentine cookies from Connecticut supermarket chain Stew Leonard’s that contained “undeclared peanuts,” according to the lawsuit filed last week.
Ms. Baxendale, who is from the United Kingdom but lived in New York City, was “very attentive to everything she ate” and carried an EpiPen. But her reaction was so severe that the medication was ineffective, according to the family’s lawyer, Marijo D Adminey.
Mrs Baxendale’s parents, Simon and Angela Baxendale, now intend to claim compensation of at least $15,000.
Legal documents show that six months before the dancer’s death, the cookie’s maker, Cookies United, changed the recipe to include peanuts but did not fix the ingredient label.
Órla Baxendale, 25, suffered an allergic reaction to cookies from a Connecticut store so severe that not even her EpiPen could save her, lawyers said.
“Despite email notification of these changes, (Stew Leonard’s) ignored the email and never changed the Nutrition Facts label or panel and never adequately updated the packaging,” the document states.
The cookies were labeled for their old recipe, which contained soy nuts instead of peanuts.
Cookies United confirmed the claims in a press release, which the lawsuit says was removed from the company’s website.
‘Stew Leonard’s stated in a previous press release that “the cookies contain peanuts, which was an ingredient that the manufacturer did not disclose to Stew Leonard’s,” the statement said, according to the lawsuit.
‘Cookies United notified Stew Leonard’s in July 2023 that this product now contains peanuts and that all products shipped to them have been labeled accordingly. This product is sold under the Stew Leonard’s brand and is repackaged at their facility.’
“The incorrect label was created and applied to your product by Stew Leonard’s.”
The original label, which was from the old recipe, said the cookies contained soy nuts. These are different and do not cause a reaction in people allergic to peanuts.
Shortly after Ms. Baxendale’s death, Stew Leonard’s recalled Vanilla Florentine cookies because peanuts were not included in the ingredients list.
The recall applied to any of those particular cookies that were sold at Stew Leonard’s stores in Danbury and Newington, Connecticut, from November 6 to December 31, 2023.
The cookies Ms. Baxendale ate had a best buy date of January 5, 2024.
‘Órla was truly unique. She was a beautiful, radiant and brave soul who always believed that she would achieve her biggest dreams, and that is exactly what she did. “She danced all over the world and lived life to the fullest every day,” a family statement said.
‘We will never recover from the pain of having her taken from us so soon, in the prime of her life. But we are also very proud to call her our daughter and sister, and to have had the privilege of sharing 25 years with such an incredibly special person.
“It is unfathomable that allergies could claim lives in 2024, and we want to urge everyone to educate themselves and those around them about anaphylaxis, how to use EpiPens, and the early warning signs of serious allergic reactions.”
Ms. Baxendale was in Milford, Connecticut, preparing for a role in a dance company’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland at a social gathering when she ate the cookies.
“It is incomprehensible that allergies could claim lives in 2024, and we want to urge everyone to educate themselves and those around them about anaphylaxis, how to use EpiPens, and the early warning signs of serious allergic reactions,” the family said of Baxendale in a statement.
The CDC estimates that one in three American adults has at least one allergy, and six percent of adults among children (nearly 20 million people) have a food allergy.
About 2.5 percent of American children, or 1.8 million, are allergic to peanuts, and about 20 percent outgrow the allergy by adulthood.
While some people experience minor reactions, others can go into anaphylactic shock simply from coming into contact with small amounts of peanuts.
Anaphylactic shock, also called anapylaxia, can occur within seconds of coming into contact with an allergen like peanuts.
It causes the immune system to overreact and mistake the trigger for something harmful, causing breathing difficulties, confusion, feeling dizzy, and a rapid heartbeat.
Medications such as EpiPen may be needed to stop the immune response, as well as oxygen and intravenous therapies.
Anaphylaxis causes approximately 500 to 1,000 deaths per year in the US.
