Mia St Hilaire, 12, suffered a fatal allergic reaction after consuming a milkshake at the Pop Inn Café on Southwark Park Road in August 2023. Mia, who had a severe tree nut allergy, reacted to traces of hazelnuts and almonds left behind in an unwashed blender used to prepare her drink.
The café’s proprietor, Baris Yucel, was found guilty of six criminal charges under the Food Safety Act. He was fined £18,000 and sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
CCTV footage presented by Southwark Council’s food safety team revealed that Yucel failed to clean the blender properly before preparing Mia’s milkshake. Traces of the previous drink, which contained tree nuts, were visibly left behind.
Mia’s devastated parents, Adrian and Chanel St Hilaire, described their heartbreak: "We think of Mia every day. Knowing her death could have been prevented so simply only deepens our pain."
Southwark Council also highlighted the avoidable nature of Mia’s death, arguing that basic food safety practices could have saved her life.
An inquest into the incident is pending, but Mia’s death has reignited calls for stricter allergen management in food establishments. Advocacy groups are urging cafes and restaurants to implement robust allergen protocols, including mandatory cleaning checks and clear labelling, to prevent similar tragedies.
The Pop Inn Café remains under scrutiny, with many questioning how such a preventable lapse could occur. For Mia’s family, however, the pain is immeasurable. Her parents added: "We can only hope this serves as a wake-up call for better food safety regulations and enforcement."
Mia’s death is a stark reminder of the potentially fatal consequences of lax food safety standards, with campaigners stressing the urgent need for change to protect vulnerable individuals with allergies.