Hannah’s story: A devasting and preventable loss due to a food safety failure

Hannah Jacobs was full of life with a bright future ahead of her. Hannah’s mother Abimbola Duyile described her as a “ vivacious, caring, affectionate, outspoken and energetic child.” Tragically her life was cut short after she suffered a fatal anaphylactic reaction to milk.

The incident occurred when Hannah’s mother ordered a soya hot chocolate at Costa Coffee Barking, her mother informed the staff of Hannah’s severe milk allergy and to clean the jug and steamer. Despite her mother’s instructions, Hannah was mistakenly served a hot chocolate containing milk instead of the requested soya alternative. 

The inquest into Hannah’s death ended on Friday 16 August 2024, assistant coroner Dr Shirely Radcliffe said the root cause of Hannah’s death was failings of the staff at Costa Coffee Barking to follow processes in place. The loss of Hannah’s life has devastated Hannah’s family and friends, leaving them grappling with the tragic and preventable nature of her death. 

Hannah’s family call for change, better training and safeguards in the food industry

Hannah’s family is calling for significant changes in the food industry to prevent similar tragedies from occurring. They stress the urgent need for better training for those in the food service industry, emphasising that training should be thorough, regularly checked and audited for understanding and consistently implemented across all food establishments.

The family believes that such training should not be treated as a mere formality or tick-box exercise. It should be ingrained into the everyday practice of all food services professionals, ensuring they fully understand the seriousness of all allergies and the potential fatal consequences of not following their training.

Proposed industry wide changes:

Effective training programs

Effective training of staff is key to avoid any further fatalities as well as ensuring it is properly understood and policed.

Clearer communication

Food businesses should adopt additional safeguards such as printing labels with the order information and sticking these onto the drinks ensuring that what has been ordered is what is provided.

Increased awareness

There is a need for broader societal awareness of the dangers of anaphylaxis. There should be a Government led campaign to raise awareness in relation to the signs of anaphylaxis and what should be done when someone is having an anaphylactic reaction including the timely administration of adrenaline. There should also be a dedicated person in Government responsible for taking a joined up approach to allergy management to prevent further ill health and fatalities.

Central Funding by Government for all schools to have their own Autoinjectors (AAI) 

In the guidance on the use of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools, schools can hold and use autoinjectors for those children who have been diagnosed with allergies. Although schools can purchase the autoinjectors, to use on any child if they are experiencing anaphylaxis, they are significantly under resourced and simply do not have the funds to do so.

Many schools are asking parents to request the additional autoinjectors from their GPs with some GPs not prescribing the additional autoinjectors at all (as they only have to prescribe the recommended two autoinjectors) to be kept at school. This means some children are having to leave their autoinjectors in the school office when they begin the day and remember to take them home when they leave.

This can lead to children being left without any autoinjectors at home, which is an extremely dangerous situation with potentially life-threatening consequences if they forget to pick them up before they leave.

Our solution is to have a central fund where schools can apply to have a set number of autoinjectors.

This would:

• allow autoinjectors to be bought at cost price saving the schools money and would ensure that;
• every school would have access to the potentially lifesaving devices. It will also mean that;
• if a child with undiagnosed allergies suffers an anaphylactic reaction for the first time at school those children could be administered with adrenaline.

Pharmacies responsibilities

Government to mandate all pharmacies to have two adult doses and two child doses of adrenaline in their medical kit at all times for emergency use. 

A legacy for Hannah, striving for better standards

Hannah Jacob’s tragic death underscores the importance of these changes. No family should have to endure the pain of losing a child to food induced anaphylaxis when it is preventable. 

Hannah’s story is not just a call for justice

It is a call for action to protect others from suffering the same fate. Through better training, stricter safeguards and better awareness, we can work towards a future where no one loses their life to a preventable anaphylactic reaction.