A 13-year-old schoolgirl with a severe dairy allergy suffered an “immediate reaction” after a just one sip of a Costa Coffee hot chocolate that was supposed to be made with soya milk, an inquest has heard. Hannah Jacobs, who had been allergic to dairy products , along with fish and eggs, since she was a toddler, died within hours of sipping the drink on 8 February, 2022, East London Coroner’s Court was told. Her mother Abimbola Duyile, who ordered two takeaway soya hot chocolates from the coffee chain before taking Hannah to a dental appointment, said her “anger gave way to terror” after her child’s reaction to the drink.
Ms Duyile said she had been “picky” about telling the coffee shop staff that Hannah, of Barking, east London, had an allergy and they needed to clean the equipment when they made her drink. In her statement, read in court, she said: “When I arrived at the coffee shop I said to the person serving that we both would like hot chocolate. “I said that Hannah was severely allergic to cows’ milk and said they should clean the jug – to which they agreed.
” Hannah took her first sip of the drink when she was at the dentist which was a short walk away. Ms Duyile recalled that Hannah “abruptly got up and went to the toilet and shouted ‘that was not soya milk’. “ She said Hannah’s reaction “happened quickly” and she was coughing up phlegm.
Ms Duyile then rushed Hannah, who was complaining of chest pains, to a nearby chemist as her .