Dancer, 25, collapses and dies after eating mislabelled cookie from supermarket

25 January 2024 , 21:29

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NYC-based professional dancer Órla Baxendale went into anaphylactic shock and then died after ingesting peanuts from a mislabeled cookie (Image: orla_baxendale/Instagram)

What a 25-year-old woman had thought was a tasty treat at a holiday social gathering ended up being the last thing she ever ate — all because of an incorrect label on the packaging.

Órla Baxendale, a professional dancer living in New York City who is originally from Manchester in the UK, decided to indulge in a holiday cookie at a social event in Connecticut on January 11, not knowing that it contained peanuts, it has been reported.

She immediately went into anaphylactic shock, later dying from the ordeal in what law firm Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf called an "unfortunate incident" that involved "gross negligence and reckless conduct" by both the manufacturer and seller of the packaged cookies.

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The cookie was manufactured by Cookies United but sold by Stew Leonard's, a popular grocer (Newsday via Getty Images)

Sold at Stew Leonard's, a local supermarket chain found around Connecticut, the vanilla-flavoured Florentine Cookies, which are made by Cookies United in Islip, New York, on Long Island and that carry the supermarket's brand name, contain peanuts, which Baxendale is highly allergic to. But the package reportedly failed to disclose that fact.

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Now, Stew Leonard's and Cookies United are pointing fingers at each other. The former alleges that the latter never disclosed the ingredient, but the latter insists that they did in July 2023, months before they even hit the shelves and made their way to the social gathering at which Baxendale died.

Baxendale, 25, moved to NYC from Manchester in the UK to pursue her dreams (orla_baxendale/Instagram)

Baxendale had performed at the Lincoln Center and was heavily involved with the arts (orla_baxendale/Instagram)

Cookies United said in a statement: "Stew Leonard's claimed in an earlier press release that 'the cookies contain peanuts, which was an ingredient not disclosed to Stew Leonard's by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, considering the tragedy of these circumstances, 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."

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Nevertheless, the supermarket chain issued a recall of the cookies, which had allegedly only been sold in its Danbury and Newington stores, both cities in Connecticut. The CEO, Stew Leonard, Jr., said in a video obtained by News 12 : "I'm here with our family and, I mean, we're all devastated, very sad. I have four daughters. One of them is in her 20s. I can imagine how that family feels right now."

The cookies Baxendale ingested were labeled incorrectly and contained peanuts, which she was highly allergic to (Connecticut Department of Public Health)

Baxendale had been a student at the Ailey School in NYC (orla_baxendale/Instagram)

"Preliminary investigation has revealed that Órla’s death occurred due to the gross negligence and reckless conduct of the manufacturer and/or sellers who failed to properly identify the contents of the cookie on the packaging. This failure in proper disclosure has led to this devastating yet preventable outcome," the lawyers involved in the case wrote.

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Food, Standards and Product Safety Division released a statement of its own saying that it was investigating the matter in partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and officials in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey as well as the supermarket chain.

Baxendale moved to New York City to train at the Ailey School in 2018, the school's website revealed, and had been a performer during New York Fashion Week and was also a part of several productions at the city's prestigious Lincoln Center. The school added her death to her bio on its website, remembering the woman for her love of dance and the passion she carried for the arts.

Jeremiah Hassel