After a fatal allergic reaction at Crumbl Cookies in Ajax, another terrifying incident is raising urgent questions about the clarity of food labelling.
Alexise Dodd is calling out the popular bakery chain for a lack of transparent allergen warnings, after her daughter’s near-fatal nut allergy reaction to a cookie. Her demands come shortly after a Toronto woman, Adeva Brown-Geddes, died from complications of an allergic reaction from ingesting the same cookie, at the same location.
Read More
Dodd’s daughter, 18-year-old Ella Clarke, picked up a box of assorted cookies to enjoy with her friend on the night of Jan. 2.
Things quickly went awry after Clarke ate a Monster ft. M&M’s Candies cookie, a popular choice with an enticing name but, unbeknownst to her, it also contained nuts.
Dodd says she raced to pick up her daughter from the friend’s house after receiving a frantic call from Clarke, who was experiencing symptoms of an itchy throat, vomiting, and shortness of breath.
“Her friend called 911, and sure enough, she was having an anaphylactic reaction. So, I administered her EpiPen and she was taken to emergency,” Dodd explained to Now Toronto.
“Thankfully, she had her EpiPen on her and was able to get treatment right away.”
Clarke has since recovered and is back in school, but Dodd, who took notice of Brown-Geddes’s tragic story shortly after, is still shocked at the close-call.
“I’ve never had to use an EpiPen until that moment. And then when I heard about that woman, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I had goosebumps. I couldn’t believe it, like that could have been her,” Dodd said.
Crumbl Cookies describes the Monster ft. M&M’s Candies cookie on its website as a “warm peanut butter dream” which not only contains M&M’s, but also peanut butter chips.
Dodd, a mother who has always been hypervigilant about her children’s allergies, says the name of the cookie is “too vague.” The experience left her shaken and deeply concerned about the lack of visible allergen warnings on Crumbl Cookies’ packaging.
“She showed me what it looked like when she ordered. It just says ‘monster cookie.’ That’s it,” she said.
“So, ideally it should be broken down to what a monster cookie is, you know, a chocolate chip cookie that has M&M’s and peanut butter chips in it, because just from the picture and the label, you wouldn’t assume that it had peanut butter chips in it.”
Though the mother and daughter have no plans of returning to Crumbl Cookies anytime soon, Dodd suggests that the bakery chain follow the example set by other food brands, such as placing a peanut icon or similar allergen indicators on their packaging.
“They should absolutely have a sign visible,” Dodd pleaded.
“I know they change their cookies weekly. How about a sign saying, ‘This week our, you know, Cookie has peanuts, or this week, our cookie has walnuts,’ like some sort of allergy statement that is highly visible.”
Now Toronto reached out to Crumbl Cookies multiple times for a comment, but did not receive a response by time of publication.
Clarke’s close call, in tandem with Brown-Geddes’ untimely passing, underscores the potential dangers posed by inadequate food labeling practices, particularly for individuals with life-threatening allergies.
Joey Salmingo, the founder and program director of the FATE Initiative (which stands for Food Allergy Training and Education), described stories such as Clarke’s and Brown-Geddes’ as “gut-wrenching.” Salmingo, who lost his sister in a devastatingly similar way, emphasizes that allergy awareness is a “two-way street” and cases like these are often preventable.
“It’s truly gut wrenching every time I hear a story come out like this. These types of incidents are completely preventable with the proper training and education,” Salmingo told Now Toronto in an email statement.
“This kind of awareness is also a two-way street. Not only is it in the best interest of the establishment to be aware of food preparation processes in order to reduce cross-contamination, or at least strongly state that it is in the customers’ best interest to refrain from purchasing if they have a severe allergy, due to the nature of control within the kitchen… but it’s also the food allergy sufferer themselves that should be vigilant, especially knowing that the smallest morsel could be life-threatening.”
