A 25-year-old professional dancer died after eating mislabeled cookies purchased from Stew Leonard's, a supermarket chain based in the Northeast. According to the New York Post, Órla Baxendale went into anaphylactic shock after eating a Vanilla Florentine cookie that contained peanuts at a social gathering on January 11.
The fact that peanuts were an ingredient in the cookies was not disclosed on the packaging. The product was recalled from Stew Leonard’s stores in Danbury and Newington, Connecticut, after her death. Stew Leonard's and Cookies United, the manufacturer of the cookies, are now both passing blame to each other, it seems, and it's unclear which party is responsible for the deadly mislabeling.
An attorney representing the Baxendale family said that an investigation into the dancer's death revealed “gross negligence and reckless conduct of the manufacturer and/or sellers.”
"This failure in proper disclosure has led to this devastating yet preventable outcome,” said attorney Marijo Adimey.
Stew Leonard's is claiming that Cookies United did not inform them of a change to the ingredients in the Vanilla Florentine cookies. Unfortunately, the supplier changed the recipe and started going from soy nuts to peanuts, and our company's chief safety officer was never notified. We take labeling very serious especially when it comes to peanuts," Stew Leonard Jr., the supermarket chain's president, said in a video posted to the company's website.
But according to Cookies United, they shared the change in ingredients with Stew Leonard's months before Baxendale’s death.
"We need to point out that 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 labeled accordingly," Walker G. Flanery III, an attorney for Cookies United, wrote in a statement to USA Today. "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."
The matter is currently being investigated by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Food, Standards and Product Safety Division. The state organization noted that the incident "is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened," and added that they're eager to get to the bottom of the case.
"Orla was very careful and hypervigilant about everything she ate, and always thoroughly checked the ingredients on all packaging," Adimey said.
Baxendale lived in New York City and was a native of the UK. She was an accomplished dancer and had performed at Lincoln Center and New York Fashion Week. She had also received a scholarship to the renowned Ailey School.
