An inquest into the death of a 13-year-old girl with a severe dairy allergy has heard that a possible "miscommunication" over a takeaway drink order may have led to her fatal allergic reaction.
Hannah Jacobs, who had been allergic to dairy products, fish and eggs since early childhood, died within hours of taking a sip of hot chocolate purchased from a Costa Coffee franchise in Barking, east London. The inquest, held on Tuesday at East London Coroner's Court, heard that Hannah suffered an immediate reaction to the drink, purchased by her mother, Abimbola Duyile, before a dental appointment on 8 February 2022.
The teenager was declared dead by 1pm that day. A post-mortem examination revealed that Hannah died from a hypersensitive anaphylactic reaction triggered by an ingredient in her hot chocolate, causing an allergic response.
The court heard that Duyile had requested two soya hot chocolates and had specifically asked staff to thoroughly clean the equipment used to prepare the drinks, due to Hannah's severe allergy.
Urmi Akter, the Costa employee who took the order, exercised her right under coroners' rules to decline answering questions that could be perceived as incriminating during her testimony. The questions focused on her training, understanding, knowledge and actions during the ordering process.
Akter told the court that she had heard and seen Duyile "clearly" as she took the order. In her statement to the inquest, she claimed Duyile had initially asked for two hot chocolates before stating: "Can you wash the jug because my daughter has a dairy allergy?"
However, despite Costa's policy requiring staff to present a book containing ingredients and preparation details to customers with dietary requirements or allergy concerns, Akter did not show this to Duyile.
Akter's statement stated: "I did not show the mother the book as she told me washing the jug was fine. I thought she, as the mother, would know more about [it]. I gave her the drink she requested."
She also claimed that she had repeated Duyile's request for the jug to be washed and pointed out that hot chocolate is made with milk. Akter said that Duyile responded: "That's fine."
Assistant coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe questioned Akter about why she had not shown Duyile the allergy book, as per her training, and whether she found it "strange" that Duyile had requested the jug to be washed between making the two drinks. Akter, who was assisted by a Bengali interpreter, declined to answer these questions.
Emily Slocombe, representing Hannah's family, questioned whether showing Duyile the allergy book and discussing it with her would have provided an opportunity to clear up any potential miscommunications. She also asked Akter if she had repeated the order back to Duyile and confirmed whether cows' milk was being used, and if she had informed the barista who prepared the drinks about Hannah's allergy.
