Mislabeled cookies recalled after New York man dies
Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A Connecticut-based food chain is recalling their Vanilla Florentine Cookies after a New York resident with an allergy ate them and died at a party.
Stew Leonard's issued a recall for the cookies, which covers Vanilla Florentine Cookies that were sold only at Stew Leonard's in Danbury and Newington, Conn., from Nov. 6 through Dec. 31, 2023.
"The cookies contain peanuts. Customers with nut allergies should bring back the product to customer service for a full refund," the Stew Leonard's statement reads.
According to Stew Leonard's, the cookies contain peanuts, an ingredient that was not disclosed to the company by Cookies United in Islip, N.Y., who made the items.
Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Food, Standards and Product Safety Division (DCP) Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli said in a statement Tuesday that the agency is working with Stew Leonard's to remove all baked items produced by Cookies United from all Stew Leonard's Connecticut locations.
Cafferelli said DCP investigators are tapping public health officials in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, the Food and Drug Administration and Stew Leonard's to "determine the cause of the error, as well as if any other products were affected and sold to other stores."
"This is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened," he said in a release. "DCP Food Investigators are working hard with the Department of Public Health, local health departments, officials in New York State and New Jersey, the Food and Drug Administration and Stew Leonard's to determine how this error happened and prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future. Our condolences go out to the family affected by this incident."
According to the DCP, the death of "an individual in their 20s who was a resident of New York" was initially reported to the Food and Drug Administration.
In a statement to Patch, CEO Stew Leonard Jr. said the small chain has never had a death associated with one of their products before.
"We have very strict food safety practices and one of them is having all proper ingredients listed on our labels. Unfortunately, we are buying these cookies from a company who never told us they changed the ingredients. We sold them in good faith and one customer was affected. We were devastated to learn this news and our family is sending our deepest condolences."
