Nationwide — Mia St Hilaire, a 12-year-old Black girl from London, tragically died after consuming a milkshake at a local cafe that was prepared in an unclean blender, triggering a fatal allergic reaction. The cafe owner has since been fined for food safety violations.
CCTV footage revealed the cafe’s owner, Baris Yucel, failed to clean the blender before making Mia’s drink, leading to possible nut contamination from a previous order. Southwark Council confirmed the cross-contamination caused her fatal reaction.
In December 2024, Yucel, 47, pleaded guilty to multiple food safety violations, including serving food with allergens, failing to provide allergen information, and neglecting cross-contamination risks. In January 2025, he was fined £18,000 (around $22,000) and sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
Mia’s parents, Adrian and Chanel, shared their grief, saying, “We think of Mia every day, and knowing her death could potentially have been prevented so simply, only adds to how heartbroken we are as a family.”
The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation condemned the incident in an Instagram post, calling for stricter enforcement of food safety rules, saying, “Food allergies are not a choice or preference, but a serious medical condition that can for some be fatal. How many more people must be hospitalized or die before all food operators realize these rules are not an optional extra, but essential for keeping their customers safe?”
Despite the fine, the cafe remains open under local authority supervision and has since earned a five-star Food Hygiene Rating. Yucel’s lawyer said he deeply regrets the tragedy and constantly thinks of Mia and her family.
This incident occurred just a few months after a similar tragedy involving 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs, also from London, who suffered a fatal allergic reaction shortly after taking a sip of hot chocolate at a London café.