The parents of a 12-year-old girl who died after having a severe allergic reaction to a milkshake hope a “loud message” has been sent to businesses after a cafe operator who made their daughter the drink was fined £18,000. Mia Shay St Hilaire, from Sydenham, south-east London, died in hospital on August 30 2023 after drinking a milkshake at Pop Inn Cafe, in Bermondsey, and suffering an allergic reaction.
She had a tree nut allergy, and it is believed there were hazelnuts and almonds in the drink prepared for Mia, Southwark Council said. CCTV footage showed the cafe’s operator, Baris Yucel, had not cleaned the blender before making Mia’s drink and the council said there were substances left behind from the preparation of another drink which caused her to react.
In December last year Mr Yucel, 47, pleaded guilty at Croydon Magistrates’ Court to six charges, including serving food that contained an allergenic ingredient that should not have been present. He was fined £18,000 and given a 100-hour community order at a sentencing hearing on Friday at the same court.
Mia’s parents, Adrian and Chanel, said in a statement published via Leigh Day law firm: “We think of Mia every day and knowing her death could potentially have been prevented so simply, only adds to how heartbroken we are as a family. “We hope this conviction and fine sends a loud message to businesses serving food and drinks across the country, of the devastating consequences of failing to take food safety seriously.”.
