Mum furious with cafe after daughter's severe allergic reaction to cookie

A Perth mother wants café workers to be more aware of allergies after her five-year-old daughter had a severe reaction to a cookie that could have killed her.

She says she asked staff at the Coffee Club for a nut-free biscuit, but was sold one containing pecans.

Little Amelia needed a shot of adrenalin at Perth Children’s Hospital after suffering a life-threatening allergic reaction to a cookie bought at the Warwick Grove branch of the café.

“I asked them if it had any nuts, they said it was just a normal choc chip cookie,” the girl’s mother Rosee said.

Rosee was handed the cookie in a labelled wrapper that said it contained nuts, but she says she took the staff member’s word, and put it in Amelia’s lunch box.

“My daughter could’ve died from what happened. Her face was swollen, her lips,” Rosee said.

Under Food Standards regulations, packaged products must declare common allergens on labels.

If they’re not in a packet, those details must be displayed or provided to customers when requested.

“If they don’t know it, then of course, they should be truthful because people are making decisions based on this information that they’re providing,” National Allergy Strategy spokesperson Sandra Vale said.

In a statement, the Coffee Club said it takes food allergens and the wellbeing of their customers very seriously and they’re evaluating existing processes and procedures to ensure that a similar situation is avoided in future.

The company also said its staff members undertake mandatory food safety training to communicate important nutritional information to customers when necessary.