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Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Tragic cookie mishap led to death of elderly woman after shopping at popular supermarket chain
After taking one single bite of a cookie purchased from a Safeway grocery store, an elderly Washington woman died from a severe allergic reaction - and now her family is seeking justice. Peggy Bryant, 78, tragically died in 2023 after taking a bite of a peanut butter cookie mislabeled as an oatmeal raisin while shopping at a Safeway in Duvall. She was just months away from celebrating her 60th wedding anniversary with her high school sweetheart, King 5 News reported. Now, two years later, Bryant's family has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the popular supermarket chain, seeking accountability for what they believe was an entirely preventable tragedy. 'The last few minutes of my mom's like were tragic and awful and painful,' Lisa Bishop, Bryant's daughter, told King 5 News. 'Do the right thing,' she added. 'I don't want it to happen to anybody else. Labels are there for a reason and I don't want anybody else to die from mislabeling.' On April 7, 2023, Bryant had just finished shopping when she decided to open up one of her favorite treats - an oatmeal raisin cookie she purchased just minutes before. However, after just one bite, she realized something was terribly wrong - what was supposed to be a safe-to-eat oatmeal raisin cookie, was actually filled with peanut butter. 'She realized that the cookie she was eating was actually a peanut butter cookie,' Bishop told King News. 'And she's deathly allergic to nuts, peanuts.' Bryant was rushed to a nearby hospital, but tragically succumbed to the severe allergic reaction within the hour. A coroner's report later confirmed that anaphylaxis - a life-threatening allergic reaction - was the cause of her death, according to her son-in-law, Greg Bishop, King News reported. 'When they got the blood results back, he said it was clearly anaphylaxis,' Greg Bishop told the outlet. 'Her blood vessels had basically broken down.' Following Bryant's devastating death, the health department conducted an inspection and requested a recall of the mislabeled product - a directive Safeway ultimately complied with, according to the outlet. However, Bryant's family believes they have a duty to prevent similar incidents from happening again, especially since their loved one's death could have been easily avoided by the chain. 'I knew that we just had to do something,' Lisa told King News, adding how the error forever changed their family. 'Just growing up with her, she was just always filled with joy and fun,' she recalled. The family's lawsuit, filed in federal court, seeks accountability for the deadly mix-up and aims to highlight the critical importance of proper food labeling to prevent any further tragedies. 'Do the right thing,' Lisa asserted. Last year, Órla Baxendale, a British ballet dancer originally from Helmshore, East Lancashire, but based in New York City, tragically went into anaphylactic shock and died after consuming vanilla Florentine cookies that contained peanuts. The cookies, which were purchased from a Stew Leonard's store in Connecticut, were subsequently recalled due to the packaging not having a peanut allergy warning. In May of 2024, her family filed a lawsuit, accusing the grocer and manufacturer Cookies United of being 'careless and negligent' in causing Baxendale's death. Both companies were named in the lawsuit, along with several Stew Leonard's employees. Baxendale, who had a severe peanut allergy, had moved to New York City from England to pursue a career as a dancer and was in 'the prime of her life', according to the lawsuit filed at the Superior Court in Waterbury. The complaint, reviewed by stated that Baxendale had a known severe peanut allergy and she, 'like all consumers, relied upon the manufacturer and seller to properly label the package sold to the general public'. The family's lawsuit, filed in federal court, seeks accountability for the deadly mix-up and aims to highlight the critical importance of proper food labeling to prevent any further tragedies However, the cookies she consumed 'contained, among other things, undeclared peanuts and other known allergens', despite not being labeled as so, according to the complaint. The suit alleged that Cookies United failed to properly label that the Florentine cookies contained peanuts prior to distribution. According to the suit, 11 Stew Leonard's employees were 'notified by email' of the change in ingredients, including the 'addition of peanuts to the cookie recipe in July 2023, approximately six months before Baxendale's death. The manufacturer then sent 'bulk packaging' that contained a label indicating the cookies contained allergens - including peanuts - in October that year. However, Baxendale consumed a cookie that had not been properly labeled to indicate the ingredient change in January 2024. She went into anaphylactic shock and an EpiPen was administered, but 'due to the severity of her allergy, it was not effective', family attorney Marijo C. Adime said in a statement at the time. The suit accused Stew Leonard's of ignoring alerts from the manufacturer, and alleged that the store did not update product labels once it received notice of a change in ingredients. 'The failure to properly label the package prior to the distribution and sale of the Florentine Cookie(s) was grossly negligent, intentional, reckless, callous, indifferent to human life, and a wanton violation as the manufacturer and seller were required under the law to properly declare the ingredients,' the lawsuit read. It further alleged that the systems Stew Leonard's had in place to maintain and update labels are 'broken, unreliable, inherently dangerous, undependable, untrustworthy, erratic, and deplorable'. The lawsuit sought unspecified monetary and punitive damages.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
78-Year-Old Woman Died After Eating Mislabeled Grocery Store Cookie. Now, Her Family Is Suing
Peggy Bryant, 78, died of a severe allergic reaction in April 2023 after eating a peanut butter cookie from Safeway that was mislabeled as an oatmeal raisin cookie Bryant was preparing to celebrate her 60th wedding anniversary with her high school sweetheart in a few months when she died Now, Bryant's family is suing Safeway over the fatal mix-upPeggy Bryant was preparing to celebrate her 60th wedding anniversary when her life was cut short by a mislabeled cookie. The 78-year-old had just been shopping at a Safeway grocery store in Duvall, Wash., on April 7, 2023, when she decided to enjoy one of the snacks she had purchased — and one of her favorite treats — an oatmeal cookie, according to NBC affiliate KING-TV. 'My mom loved oatmeal raisin cookies,' Bryant's daughter, Lisa Bishop, told the Seattle outlet. But after just one bite of the Safeway brand baked good, Bryant noticed that the treat was something else entirely, Lisa claims. 'She realized that the cookie she was eating was actually a peanut butter cookie,' she told KING-TV, 'and she's deathly allergic to nuts, peanuts.' Bryant was rushed to a nearby hospital, but died within the hour, Lisa recalled to the outlet. A coroner's report later confirmed that anaphylaxis — a life-threatening allergic reaction — was the cause of her death, according to her son-in-law, Greg Bishop. 'When they got the blood results back, [the coroner] said it was clearly anaphylaxis,' Greg said. 'Her blood vessels had basically broken down.' Months before she could celebrate 60 years with her high school sweetheart, Bryant's life was not only cut short, but her final moments 'were tragic and awful and painful' — an upsetting end for someone who was 'always filled with joy and fun,' Lisa told KING-TV. Now, two years later, Bryant's family is taking legal action. After the fatal mix-up, the health department carried out an inspection, which led Safeway to issue a recall, according to the family's complaint. But the family says it does not want any repeat incidents, especially because Bryant's death was so preventable. "I knew that we just had to do something,' Lisa told KING-TV. So the family filed a lawsuit against the grocery store chain. Albertsons Companies, which owns Safeway, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Saturday, May 10. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The family's lawsuit, which was filed in federal court, seeks accountability for the error and aims to highlight the critical importance of proper food labeling. "Do the right thing,' Lisa told KING-TV. 'I don't want it to happen to anybody else. Labels are there for a reason, and I don't want anybody else to die from mislabeling.' Read the original article on People
The Independent
09-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
‘Labels are there for a reason': Families sues after cookie mixup kills a 78-year-old grandmother
A Washington family is suing grocery chain Safeway over the death of their beloved 78-year-old grandmother, who died after eating a peanut butter cookie that they say was incorrectly labeled. Margaret Jean 'Peggy' Bryant purchased a cookie, which was packaged as an oatmeal raisin cookie, from a Safeway store in Duvall on April 7, 2023. Her family said she was 'deathly allergic' to peanuts. According to legal documents seen by The Independent, later that night, Bryant began eating one of the cookies from this package and almost immediately complained of feeling unwell. She went to the bathroom and was found unresponsive by her husband, Dennis Bryant, a short time later. Despite calling 911 and an ambulance, she went into cardiac arrest and later died. The couple, who were childhood sweethearts and had been married for 59 years, were due to celebrate their 60th wedding later this year. 'Do the right thing, and I don't want it to happen to anybody else,' her daughter Lisa Bishop told KBTX. 'Labels are there for a reason and I don't want anybody else to die from mislabeling.' It was later discovered that the cookies purchased by the Bryants had been incorrectly labeled by Duvall Safeway bakery staff and, to the family's horror, the package of cookies sold to them contained peanut butter cookies rather than oatmeal raisin cookies, according to the lawsuit. An autopsy concluded that her manner of death was an "accident" and that Bryant died from food-induced anaphylaxis and peanut toxicity caused by these negligently mislabeled cookies. The health department did an inspection and requested a recall. Safeway have issued a notice in response. The Bryant family has demanded $9.5 million to resolve the case. 'Obviously, no amount of money can compensate for this loss,' a letter from family lawyers stated. 'Peggy was an active, healthy, warm, vibrant, loving woman with a bright smile. 'She still had many years of life left to enjoy, love and support her husband, children and grandchildren, extended family and future blessings of great-grandchildren,' the lawyer noted. Bishop, called for stores to take more care. 'My mom loved oatmeal raisin cookies,' she told KBTX. 'She realized that the cookie she was eating was actually a peanut butter cookie and she's deathly allergic to nuts, peanuts.' According to Bishop, and the the lawsuit, Bryant endured 'unimaginable pain and suffering shortly before her death.'
