SHE WAS ONLY 12 — A SIMPLE MILKSHAKE ENDED IN TRAGEDY, AND NOW HER FAMILY IS DEMANDING CHANGE

After losing their beloved daughter, Mia Shay St Hilaire, her parents hope her story will prevent another family from enduring the same heartbreak.

A treat at a café should have been an ordinary moment for 12-year-old Mia Shay St Hilaire. Instead, it became the beginning of a tragedy that has left her family devastated and raised serious questions about food-allergy safety.

Mia, from Sydenham in southeast London, had a known hazelnut allergy. In August 2023, she visited Pop Inn Café in Bermondsey with her aunt and sister and drank some of a Twix milkshake.

But the drink contained something her family had every reason to fear: traces of hazelnut left behind from another milkshake.

Despite emergency treatment and intensive care, Mia could not be saved.

More than three years later, an inquest has concluded that the contamination triggered the severe allergic reaction that led to her death. Her parents are now calling for changes to help protect people living with food allergies.

THE DETAIL REVEALED BY CCTV

Evidence presented at Inner South London Coroner’s Court showed that the same blender had previously been used to prepare a Kinder Bueno milkshake containing hazelnut.

CCTV footage showed the blender was not cleaned before Mia’s Twix milkshake was prepared.

Assistant Coroner Briony Ballard concluded that the drink had been cross-contaminated with hazelnut residue. Mia developed rapidly progressing anaphylaxis and later collapsed at her aunt’s home.

She was taken to Evelina London Children’s Hospital, where medical teams tried to save her life.

Despite their efforts, the 12-year-old died.

THE CAFE OPERATOR FACED LEGAL CONSEQUENCES

The case had previously resulted in a prosecution brought by Southwark Council.

In January 2025, café operator Baris Yucel pleaded guilty to six food-safety offences. They included failing to make allergen advice available to customers, failing to manage allergen contamination during food preparation, and serving a product containing an allergen that should not have been present.

He was fined £18,000 and given a 100-hour community order.

The inquest has now brought renewed attention to how food businesses communicate allergy risks and prevent cross-contamination.

 HER PARENTS WANT HER LEGACY TO SAVE LIVES

Mia’s parents, Adrian St Hilaire and Chanel Spence, thanked the coroner for examining the circumstances surrounding their daughter’s death.

But their fight is not over.

They are calling for a separate, clearly displayed rating that specifically assesses how food businesses manage allergens. Current food hygiene ratings, they argue, do not necessarily tell customers whether a café has effective procedures for preventing cross-contamination.

Their message is especially important for families whose children have severe food allergies. Choosing somewhere to eat should not mean having to wonder whether basic safety precautions have been followed.

The family hopes the Food Standards Agency and other relevant authorities will review existing arrangements and consider meaningful reforms.

“SHE WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN”

Behind the calls for change is a family grieving a daughter they loved deeply.

In their statement, Mia’s parents said they wanted lessons to be learned from her death so other families would not have to endure the same devastation.

Their hope is that Mia’s story will lead to greater awareness, stronger safeguards and more reliable allergy-management practices across the food industry.

Mia was only 12. Her family cannot bring her home, but they are determined to make sure her story is heard.

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