A woman has died after ingesting some cookies with undeclared peanuts sold at Stew Leonard's, according to state officials.
The CT Department of Consumer Protection and Department of Public Health are warning the public about the store's mislabeled Florentine Cookies.
The person who died was a woman in their 20s from New York and her attorneys identified her Órla Baxendale.
Baxendale was a talented dancer, and she died of anaphylactic shock resulting from a severe reaction, her attorneys said. She reportedly ate the cookies at a social gathering in Connecticut, according to officials.
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Her attorneys go on to say that she was born in the United Kingdom and she moved to New York to pursue a career as a dancer.
Stew Leonard's, which has three locations in Connecticut, has issued a recall for the Florentine Cookies.
"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," her attorneys said in a statement.
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In the recall, Stew Leonard's states that the cookies, produced by Cookies United, were only sold at the Danbury and Newington locations.
The cookies contain peanuts, but the ingredient wasn't disclosed by the manufacturer. The cookies were sold under the Stew Leonard's brand name.
State officials said the cookies are sold seasonally between Nov. 6 and Dec. 31. The affected cookies have a best by date of Jan. 5, 2024.
President and CEO Stew Leonard Jr. issued the following statement:
"This has never happened at Stew Leonard’s before. We have very strict food safety practices and one of them is having all proper ingredients listed on our labels. Unfortunately, we are buying these cookies from a company who never told us they changed the ingredients. We sold them in good faith and one customer was affected. We were devastated to learn this news and our family is sending our deepest condolences."
Cookies United released a statement and said the company notified Stew Leonard’s in July that the product now contains peanuts.
Following is the full statement from Cookies United:
“It has come to the attention of Cookies United that a customer of Stew Leonard’s has tragically died as a result of eating cookies containing peanuts. Our hearts and condolences are first with the family of this Stew Leonard’s customer.
“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.” [bold is ours] 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. 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.
“In the 24 hours since Cookies United learned of this tragedy we have been cooperating with the New York State Department of Agriculture and have been informed we are in compliance with all applicable rules and regulations relating to this product.
“Our deepest sympathies to the family of this Stew Leonard’s customer,” Walker G. Flanary III, general counsel for the company, said in a statement.
The lawyer for Cookies United said the company sent emails to 11 Stew Leonard's employees in July, saying that the chocolate florentine cookie and vanilla florentine cookie now contain peanuts.
Stew Leonard’s president and CEO Stew Leonard Jr. said in a video that the company’s chief safety officer was never notified that the cookies contained peanuts.
“It was a holiday cookie, it was a one-shot deal, but we bought it from an outside supplier and unfortunately the supplier changed the recipe and started going from soy nuts to peanuts and our chief safety officer here at Stew Leonard’s was never notified,” Stew Leonard Jr. said in a video.
“We have a very rigorous process that we use as far as labeling. We take labels very seriously, especially peanuts, and our chief safety officer never was notified. We didn’t change the label, hence we sold about 500 packages of these cookies over the holiday,” he said.
“We’re all just very, very sad about this whole thing and you know, I want to assure you that the food you buy at Stew Leonard’s is safe, the cookies you buy at Stew Leonard’s are safe and everything is labeled properly here are Stew Leonard’s,” he said.
The company said it sent emails to several Stew Leonard's employees in July saying that the chocolate florentine cookie and vanilla florentine cookie now contain peanuts.
Out of an abundance of caution, DCP officials said Stew Leonard's was instructed to remove all baked goods produced by Cookies United from all Connecticut locations.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened,” DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli said. “DCP Food Investigators are working hard with the Department of Public Health, local health departments, officials in New York State and New Jersey, the Food and Drug Administration and Stew Leonard’s to determine how this error happened and prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future. Our condolences go out to the family affected by this incident.”
The Department of Consumer Protection said anyone with a nut allergy should immediately throw out the cookies or return them to Stew Leonard's for a full refund.
