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Stew Leonard's cookie mixup leads to woman's death
The family of 25-year-old Órla Baxendale says she died after eating cookies from a Stew Leonard's grocery store, saying the cookies were mislabeled and contained peanuts, which led to Baxendale's death from a severe allergic reaction.
CONNECTICUT - Following the peanut allergy death of a New York 20-year-old, Stew Leonard’s issued a recall for mislabeled cookies sold at Connecticut grocery stores.
The seasonal Vanilla Florentine Cookies were sold at Stew Leonard’s in Danbury and Newington from Nov. 6, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2023, and investigators are determining if other products were affected.
The recalled cookies, which contain peanuts, have a best by date of Jan. 5, 2024.
Stew Leonard’s & FDA Recall Vanilla Florentine Cookies
According to the CT Department of Public Health, the 20-year-old reportedly ate the cookies at a social gathering. The death was initially reported to the Food and Drug Administration.
"This is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened," said Bryan Cafferelli, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP).
The items were produced by a wholesaler – Cookies United in Islip, Long Island, – labeled with the Stew Leonard’s brand name, and sold only at the two stores.
Out of an abundance of caution, DCP worked with the chain to remove all baked items produced by Cookies United from all Connecticut locations.
Investigators are working with state and local public health officials across the Tri-State area, as well as the FDA and Stew Leonard’s, to determine the cause of the error, as well as if any other products were affected and sold to other stores.
Customers with nut allergies should bring back the product to customer service for a full refund.
"Correct labeling so that people who have food allergies can appropriately protect themselves is of utmost importance. I am devastated to learn of this incident and will work with partners to ensure that we can protect people with food allergies," said DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD.