Costa Coffee in London: Hannah Jacobs dies of allergy

The testimony of a former operations manager of a coffee shop in Great Britain surprised those in court: Faden Abrashi, who ran a branch of the British coffee shop chain in the London suburb of Barking, said “no.” Worry if her staff don’t understand the word “allergy”. A court is inquiring into the death of 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs, who died of a severe allergic reaction after sipping hot chocolate.

On February 8, 2023, Hannah went to a Costa coffee shop with her mother. There the woman ordered two chocolate drinks with soy milk. The mother asked the staff to thoroughly clean the equipment, claiming that her daughter was allergic to dairy products, fish and eggs. But the first sip of the served drink soon triggered an anaphylactic reaction in Hannah, which eventually led to her death. The lawsuit accuses the company of “not following allergy guidelines.”

Urmi Akhtar, who had worked at Costa Coffee for about eight months, was serving her that day. She was accompanied by a Bengali translator. A key focus of the investigation is whether the employee has received allergy training in his or her own language, knows what an allergy is, and is aware of the potential consequences of an allergic reaction.

The store manager provided proof that Urmi Akhter had completed an allergy safety course in September 2022. During the inquest, Staff Coroner Shirley Radcliffe denied some answers, writes “The Mirror”.

The investigating officer further asked the employer if he was aware that the employees may have used Google Translate to complete their online training. Faton Abrashi said: “I don’t know that, but for a few words it’s okay.”

The prosecution wants to show the court that many of the employees do not know English. The statement of another Costa Coffee employee was presented in evidence. It says: “I don’t know what an allergy is, but we have a book that tells us what’s in our food and drink.” An example of another employee who failed the online test 20 times before finally being hired was also presented to the court.

Another witness, who started working at Costa in October 2022, said: “On my first day I stood behind the counter and ordered. My husband came to work with me and translated. Next: “When I study English, I use Google Translate to help me.” The witness added that he used the translation app to complete his employee training modules.

The coroner asked the former manager if he expected his staff to understand the term ‘allergy’ after training. Abrashi said: “No need.” He expects trained staff to understand that certain substances can “trigger a range of symptoms” that are dangerous.