Posted on 03/26/2015 10:25:17 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
The family of an 11-year-old boy is suing the Publix grocery chain, saying the child was allergic to nuts and died from a severe reaction after eating a cookie despite a worker's assurance it was safe..
The lawsuit says Derek Landon Wood of Alabama died in June 2014 shortly after eating a chocolate chip cookie purchased at a Publix store in Clarksville. The boy, who was visiting family in Tennessee, was allergic to tree nuts. The lawsuit, which was filed March 20 in federal court in Nashville, says the store bakery did not post warnings about ingredients or possible cross-contamination. It says the mother bought the cookie only after a worker assured her it was safe.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
“I shop at Publix regularly and literally every package of their baked goods, as well as signage hanging in their bakery, says their products may contain things like nuts milk, and eggs that people are allergic to.”
For example:
Publix recalls meats products over nut allergy warning
The child had to eat something, and the ingredients on the label and the store clerk assured her that the food did not contain tree nuts.
This sort of food allergy--especially peanuts!--has become a HUGE health crisis reaching epidemic proportions.
Nobody knows exactly what's causing it.
The labeling of food is a good thing, but it must be dependable.
PUBLIX should not be on the hook for this tragic stupidity of the Tolerant Mommy
This is tough. I am allergic to peanuts - as a kid this kind of reaction was a possibility. Well more than that, it did happen a few times although I am obviously still here. As an adult, I don’t think it is as bad, although its not like I’m going to pull out a can of Jiffy and find out.
I’m a bit sympathetic. Clearly I read labels myself and don’t eat anything that says it “contains” nuts. But I would bet half the items in a typical grocery store will say something to the effect of “manufactured in a facility that handles nuts”. I’m not going to sit here and be some liberal and assert I have a right to eat a particular food, but I would like to think I should have the ability to eat something.
I’ve personally seen signs at the deli at my local Publix in FL that anything you buy at the deli could be exposed to nuts or other allergens (come to think of it, that might be a recent development and related to this story). I suspect there will be similar signs at the bakery. And like I mentioned, anything processed or in a box likely has the warning. It leaves parents in a pretty bad situation if there isn’t some responsibility put on business to prevent this. Not sure exactly where that line should be though.
My wife’s granddaughter has a severe peanut allergy. Before they buy anything, they check out the store and product. A quick check of Publix shows:
“Our bakeries use a variety of wholesome ingredients including eggs, wheat and other dry mixes that will become airborne during the production times. They also are using peanuts and tree nuts. Our associates are trained on
sanitation procedures for their areas. Even with proper sanitation in place there is the possibility of small amounts of dairy and egg powder, nut residue to transfer onto a food surface. One example includes opening bags
of dry mix. The ingredient dust from these mixes can disperse and land on food contact surfaces. Another example is the bread slicers being used to slice breads with and without nuts, etc.”
This automatically puts Publix backer “off-limits”.
Not to sound unsympathetic, but I agree. I have a nephew with that same allergy, and giving him a store bought cookie is something that none of us would ever do. Why chance it?
And no one is ever obliged to eat one.
NUTS IN A COOKIE.... outrageous... /snide..
If your child had a deadly allergy would you trust a minimum wage worker with their life? Did the Mother actually read any ingredients?
Did you read that in the article?
My children can’t take nuts to school because of the remotest chance that one of kids with allergies might come in contact with nuts.
The mother could should have been able to see that the bakery had nut-based items behind the counter, and should have know that despite the reassurances from a Publix employee, that there was a good possibility that there was cross-contamination.
For these parents, don’t assume the employee knows if there is cross-contamination, since most likely, the employee really doesn’t know the severity of the consequences for being wrong.
In other words, if there is a doubt, leave it out (of your child’s mouth).
My thoughts exactly. The store should not have made that mistake, but the mother should not have bet her child’s life on the knowledge of someone drawing close to minimum wage.
I worked in a grocery store. I refused to answer allergy questions and referred them to read the ingredients themselves. They would get pissed off if I refused to tell then if something was safe for little Susie to eat.
I’ve got the same feeling.
Years ago the secretary where I worked son was allergic to something in ice cream.
No matter how many time they told his grandmother on his dad’s side not to give the kid ice cream, she did it anyway and the kid would end up in the hospital.
Finally had to get a court order to keep her away from the kid.
This should be the response of all employees regarding this issue. Someone else pointed out that Publix has a website for their bakery. The employee could refer them to the site.
Bless her heart?
This woman will never ever forget this mistake for the rest of her life.
This lapse on her part ended her son’s life.
I’m sure every store trains them the same way to refer customers to the allergy statement. I have to wonder if the mother informed the employee of the nut allergy or just asked a really generic question.
I know sometimes I would get asked if something was safe to eat if it didn’t list nuts on the label. At that point I would inform them that we use nuts in other items and can not say it is not nut free. They would still try to get me to say it’s safe for their child to eat. We sold a line of nut-free items made in a nut free facility, sealed and shipped to us. Those were never good enough as they wanted something special for their special snowflake child.
But she wants somebody else to pay for it.
Clearly her mistake, one would think she might want to avoid making it look like she may have looked the other way for a “pay day”.
“What mother of a child with a DEADLY nut allergy lets them eat anything in public?”
Exactly. AND based on the “professional” opinion of a part-time, minimum-wage high-school dropout behind the deli counter who says, “Don’t worry, your kid will be fine. Nothing in our cookies could possibly kill him.”
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