12-Year-Old Girl Died from Milkshake Made in Unwashed Blender [Trigger Warning]

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Mia-Shay St Hilaire, a 12-year-old girl from the Sydenham district of London, was with her sister and aunt in August of 2023 when they visited the Pop Inn Cafe in Bermondsey for a treat. Mia, who was allergic to tree nuts, suffered an anaphylactic reaction after drinking a milkshake and was rushed to the hospital, where she died two days later.

The cafe’s operator, Baris Yucel, pleaded guilty to five health and safety violations and a charge under the UK’s Food Safety Act and was ordered to pay a £18,000 ($22,000) fine Friday. After his sentencing at Croydon Magistrates Court, he will also have to serve 100 hours of community service.

The Pop Inn Cafe

CCTV video showed that Yucel had not bothered to clean the blender before preparing Mia’s milkshake, allowing traces of nuts to contaminate her drink via cross-contact.

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The prosecution was initiated after an investigation from Southwark Council’s food safety Team uncovered a series of food safety breaches.

Said Councillor Natasha Ennin, Southwark’s cabinet member for Community Safety and Neighbourhoods:

What happened to Mia-Shay is a tragedy and my heart goes out to her family and the people who loved her.

This might have been avoided if the operator of the café had followed simple food safety rules, and our officers will continue to work with local businesses to help ensure these are followed by all food outlets in Southwark.

Said Mia’s parents:

We think of Mia every day and knowing her death could potentially have been prevented so simply, only adds to how heartbroken we are as a family.

We hope this conviction and fine sends a loud message to businesses serving food and drinks across the country, of the devastating consequences of failing to take food safety seriously.

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Said Michelle Victor, the attorney representing Mia’s family:

Mia and all other children with allergies should be able to feel safe knowing that businesses serving food and drink adhere to food safety legislation put in place to protect their lives. But unfortunately, far too often we see that this doesn’t happen, which can have tragic consequences such as in this case.

We are continuing to support Mia’s family and, while no outcome will ever make up for the loss they have suffered, this criminal prosecution is an important part of their fight to achieve justice for all those suffering with food allergies.

A full inquest into Mia’s death will be held at a later date.


Our hearts go out to Mia’s family, who are living the nightmare every food allergy family fears. Although a fine and community service are minuscule punishments for what we see as manslaughter, we hope they can take some measure of solace in knowing that there were consequences for the cafe operator’s negligence.

As we do when we report such tragedies, we look for strategies the food allergy community can employ to avoid similar occurrences.

We don’t know if Mia or her aunt had epinephrine on hand when she suffered the reaction, and if it was, whether it was administered in a timely fashion as the symptoms of anaphylaxis took hold.

We know that epinephrine is the only drug that can halt and reverse the progression of anaphylaxis, a life-threatening reaction to a food, drug, insect venom, or environmental substance like latex. Therefore, every person diagnosed with a food allergy should be prescribed epinephrine.

If you have been prescribed epinephrine, take two emergency epinephrine devices (auto-injector or nasal spray) along everywhere you go, every time, and be sure to administer one when you first suspect anaphylaxis.

This tragedy shows people with food allergies place their lives in someone’s hands whenever they order at a restaurant or cafe. Be sure to discuss your food allergy in detail with the establishment’s manager, wait and kitchen staff, and if you are not confident they can accommodate you safely, leave.

Your life is too precious to gamble with it.

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Dave Bloom
Dave Bloom
Dave Bloom is CEO and "Blogger in Chief" of SnackSafely.com.

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