Mom says teen died from allergic reaction after eating Chips Ahoy!
WESTON, Fla. - A mother says her teenage daughter died after eating what looked like regular Chips Ahoy! cookies.
Kellie Travers-Stafford says the packaging on the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups variety of the popular cookie is nearly identical to that of the version without peanuts.
She says her 15-year-old Alexi Ryann Stafford knew she was allergic to peanuts. However, the teen also knew Chewy Chips Ahoy! - in the red packaging - was safe.
While at a friend's house, Alexi's mother says she reached into an already-opened package and grabbed one. What she did not see was the addition of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups logo on the front of the package.
After eating the cookie, she went into anaphylactic shock and died.
Since then, her mother has been sounding the alarm on social media, warning parents and anyone with allergies to beware three varieties of Chips Ahoy! brand cookies - chewy in the red package, original in the blue package, and soft chunky in the brown package.
All three now come in a variety with peanuts, but the packaging for peanut and peanut-free are largely the same.
In a post on Facebook, Kellie Travers-Stafford said her family was heartbroken.
"As a mother who diligently taught her the ropes of what was okay to ingest and what was not, I feel lost and angry because she knew her limits and was aware of familiar packaging, she knew what “safe” was," she 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."
Since her post on July 12, the Chips Ahoy! social media pages have been flooded with comments, asking for a change to the packaging.
Through it's Twitter page, Chips Ahoy! has responded saying, "We take allergens very seriously. Chewy Chips Ahoy! made w/ Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups packaging clearly shows that it contains peanuts through words and visuals. Package color indicates Chewy, Chunky, or Original. Consumers should always read the label for allergy information."