Death of New York City dancer blamed on severe allergic reaction to cookies not labeled for peanuts

A New York City dancer went into anaphylactic shock and died after eating cookies not labeled as containing peanuts, prompting a recall of the baked goods in question, officials said Wednesday.

Órla Baxendale, 25, died Jan. 11 after consuming Vanilla Florentine Cookies that “contained undisclosed peanuts” and were sold at popular regional supermarket Stew Leonard's, the woman's lawyer Marijo Adimey said in statement.

“Her sudden loss is not only a personal tragedy for her family and friends but also a significant loss to the artistic community,” Adimey said.

No lawsuit has been filed yet in this matter.

Stew Leonard's has seven stores in New York City bedroom communities, though the cookies that led to Baxendale's death were only sold at the chain's locations in Danbury and Newington, Connecticut, officials said. The tragic mishap prompted the Connecticut Department of Public Health to issue a recall for those cookies.

Bryan Cafferelli, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, said his agency is working with counterparts in New York and New Jersey “to determine how this error happened and prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future.”

“This is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened,” Cafferelli said in statement. “Our condolences go out to the family affected by this incident.”

The cookies in question were specially ordered for the holidays, and the supplier had previously made them with a soy nut substitute, according to Stew Leonard's.

“It's a sad day for us. We learned a customer passed who had a peanut allergy,” company CEO Stew Leonard Jr. said in a video statement. “Unfortunately, the supplier changed the recipe and started going from soy nuts to peanuts, and our chief safety officer here at Stew Leonard's was never notified.”

The supplier, Cookies United based in Islip, New York, pushed back and said it told Stew Leonard's in July that peanuts were going to be used in these cookies. And when those cookies were shipped to Stew Leonard's, labels reflected peanuts as an ingredient, according to the supplier.

“This product is sold under the Stew Leonard’s brand and repackaged at their facilities,” Cookies United general counsel Walker Flanary III said in a statement. “The incorrect label was created by, and applied to, their product by Stew Leonard’s.”

The British-born and -raised Baxendale, a native of Manchester, moved to New York in 2018 to study dance at The Ailey School.

“The Ailey School is deeply saddened by the untimely passing of alumna Órla Baxendale,” the school said in a statement.

“Her loss will be profoundly felt by her friends, colleagues, and all who knew her. We will remember her for her joyful spirit and boundless talent. Our thoughts are with her family at this devastating time.”