The parents of Mia St Hilaire, who died after consuming a milkshake prepared in an unwashed blender at a London cafe, are demanding the introduction of a dedicated food safety rating focused specifically on allergy management practices.
Mia, aged 12 and living with a tree nut allergy, suffered a fatal anaphylactic reaction in August 2023 after drinking a Twix milkshake at the Pop Inn Cafe in Bermondsey, south-east London. The blender used to make her drink had not been cleaned after preparing a Kinder Bueno milkshake, leaving hazelnut residue that triggered her fatal allergic response. An inquest concluded on Thursday that this failure to control allergen contamination directly caused her death.
In January 2025, the cafe was fined £18,000 and its owner Baris Yucel received 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to six offences under food safety legislation. The charges encompassed failing to make allergen information available to customers, inadequate management of allergen cross-contamination during food preparation, and serving food containing an allergenic substance not declared to the consumer. CCTV footage demonstrated that Yucel had not cleaned the blender before making Mia's order.
Assistant coroner Briony Ballard delivered a narrative conclusion at London Inner South Coroner's Court following the inquest hearing. According to reporting on the inquest outcome, the coroner determined she was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the failure to manage allergen contamination at the establishment caused Mia's death.
What are the family's demands for change?
Mia's parents, Adrian St Hilaire and Chanel Spence, released a statement following the inquest conclusion expressing their conviction that families with food allergies must not face danger when dining outside the home. They stated:
We hope that lessons will be learned from Mia's death and that changes will be made to prevent other families enduring the devastation that we now have to live with. Consumers rely on food hygiene ratings when deciding where it is safe to eat, but they do not tell us anything about the way a food business runs allergy management systems. There should be a separate, clearly displayed rating dedicated to the allergy management, like the food hygiene rating. This would mean that people with allergies could make more informed choices about where they eat.
Beyond the proposed allergy-management rating, Mia's parents have called for a broader package of reforms including the establishment of a national allergy-management framework, enhanced training and guidance for local authority food inspectors, and improved support mechanisms to help food businesses train their staff on allergen safety.
What systemic failures did the inquest identify?
The coroner raised significant concerns about how allergy-management responsibilities are currently divided between food hygiene and food standards inspections, creating a structural risk that inadequate allergen controls may slip through undetected. Additionally, the coroner identified failures and missed opportunities in Mia's allergy care, including loss of specialist follow-up and her being prescribed a lower-dose EpiPen than she should have carried. However, the coroner concluded these clinical gaps did not cause or contribute to her death. Expert evidence presented at the inquest did not establish that either a timely dose of adrenaline or a higher-strength injector would probably have prevented her death.
Mia collapsed at her aunt's home after developing rapidly progressing anaphylaxis. Despite extensive emergency medical intervention and transfer to Evelina London Children's Hospital's intensive care unit, she could not be saved.
The cafe had maintained a food hygiene rating of 5 in October 2023, and it retained that maximum rating following a Southwark Council inspection in September 2024, despite the fatal incident that had occurred at the premises.
What are other voices saying about food allergy safety?
Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, founder of Natasha's Foundation, drew parallels to her own loss. Her daughter Natasha died aged 15 from an allergic reaction to sesame in a baguette purchased from Pret A Manger. She said allergies constitute
a serious, unpredictable medical conditionand added:
The inquest into Mia's death illustrates just how far we still have to go to improve awareness, understanding and regulation of food allergies. Natasha's Foundation is working hard with business, schools, communities and the government to increase awareness and understanding of food allergies to try to prevent other families from having to go through the terrible loss that Mia's family endure.
Rebecca Sudworth, director of food policy at the Food Standards Agency, expressed her sympathies to Mia's family and stated:
Food businesses must take allergen risks seriously, every time. People have the right to know exactly what is in their food and drink, and it is a business's legal duty to provide accurate allergen information. We recently produced new guidance for businesses to make sure they understand their responsibilities to inform consumers about allergens, including the risk of cross-contact, and we are keeping this policy under review. We also have free allergy training and practical tools that businesses can use.
What happens next?
The coroner indicated she would issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Food Standards Agency, Southwark Council and the Pop Inn Cafe. This formal report will set out the coroner's findings and recommendations to prevent similar deaths occurring in future, though a publication date for the report has not yet been announced.
Mia's parents described their daughter as deeply loved and said she would never be forgotten.
