Mom Shares Warning After Teen With Nut Allergy Dies From Eating Cookie
FLORIDA (CBS Local) - A couple in Florida is warning other parents about food packaging labels after their teenage daughter died from eating a cookie.
Kellie Travers-Stafford and her husband, Michael, lost their 15-year-old after she reportedly ate a Chips Ahoy! cookie while at a friend's house. Alexi Ryann Stafford, who had a peanut allergy, didn't realize the cookie she took was one of Chips Ahoy's "Reese's peanut butter cups" treats.
Tragically, the teen went into anaphylactic shock and died shortly after eating the cookie on June 25. Her mother's Facebook post about the tragedy on July 12 has been shared over 70,000 times.
The parents are calling for greater awareness about packaging labels which may not make it clear that the products inside are harmful to people with peanut allergies.
Travers-Stafford says her daughter's mistake was caused by the cookie wrapper being pulled back and there not being a warning notice on the label for peanut allergy sufferers. "I feel lost and angry because she knew her limits and was aware of familiar packaging, she knew what 'safe' was," the mother wrote. "A small added indication on the pulled back flap on a familiar red package wasn't enough to call out to her that there was "peanut product" in the cookies before it was too late."
A memorial fund for the teen was set up by friends and family on GoFundMe. The page has raised nearly $30,000 in three weeks to cover the family's funeral expenses.