Órla Baxendale, a 25-year-old dancer, has tragically died after eating cookies.
Baxendale had moved to New York from East Lancashire, UK, to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer.
But after buying cookies from a local grocery store, her promising career has been tragically cut short.
Her family has confirmed to People that they are ‘devastated by this unimaginable loss’.
Baxendale reportedly had a severe nut allergy and died of anaphylactic shock on January 11.
She bought and ate cookies that did not list peanuts among the ingredients on their label.
The Vanilla Florentine cookies were purchased from a local grocery store called Stew Leonard’s, which has since issued a recall of the 500 packs of sweets, in partnership with the FDA.
The recall states: “Customers with nut allergies should bring back the product to customer service for a full refund,” and confirms that the cookies were sold in three of their stores between November 6 and December 31, 2023.”
A statement issued on behalf of the family by their attorneys, Howard S. Hershenhorn and Marijo C. Adime reads: “She was a radiant and brave soul who pursued her dreams relentlessly, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of those who knew her.”
Adime continues: “Órla was very careful and hyper-vigilant about everything she ate, and always thoroughly checked the ingredients on all packaging. In addition, she always carried an EpiPen with her and surrounded herself with people who knew how to administer one.”
“After she began to have an anaphylactic reaction, an EpiPen was used but due to the severity of her allergy, it was not effective.”
Stew Leonard shared a video statement issued by Stew Leonard Jr., saying: “It’s a sad day for us. We’re just all devastated, very sad. I have four daughters, one of them is in their 20s. I can imagine how that family feels right now, and we’re all just very, very sad about this whole thing.
“The supplier changed the recipe and started going from soy nuts to peanuts and our chief safety officer at Stew Leonard’s was never notified.”
However, Cookies United has refuted this claim in a statement.
“Stew Leonard’s was notified by Cookies United in July of 2023 that this product now contains peanuts and all products shipped to them have been labelled accordingly,” it reads.
“This product is sold under the Stew Leonard’s brand and repackaged at their facilities. The incorrect label was created by, and applied to, their product by Stew Leonard’s.
“In the 24 hours since Cookies United learned of this tragedy we have been cooperating with the New York State Department of Agriculture and have been informed we are in compliance with all applicable rules and regulations relating to this product.”
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened,” said DCP Food Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli as per People.
“DCP Food Investigators are working hard with the Department of Public Health, local health departments, officials in New York State and New Jersey, the Food and Drug Administration and Stew Leonard’s to determine how this error happened and prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future. Our condolences go out to the family affected by this incident.”
Rest in peace.
