Ballet dancer dies after eating incorrectly labelled biscuit

A “RADIANT” British ballet dancer with a severe peanut allergy died after eating a mislabelled biscuit in the US.

Órla Baxendale, 25, suffered a severe allergic reaction after eating a Vanilla Florentine Cookie which did not list nuts among its ingredients.

The dancer, who moved from east Lancashire to New York to pursue her career, died of anaphylactic shock on Jan 11.

Her family’s laywer said she was “very careful and hyper-vigilant about everything she ate, and always thoroughly checked the ingredients on all packaging”.

Her EpiPen proved to be ineffective “due to the severity of her allergy”.

Baxendale’s sister Ciara Baxendale, an actress, said: “I will never ever stop talking about how radiant, beautiful, kind, [and] vibrant she was. She had a golden touch. Everything about her was magical, she was just so other-worldly ... I just cannot believe that she has gone.”

Elmhurst Ballet School in Birmingham, where Baxendale trained, said she was a “radiant force”, adding: “Her authenticity resonated with all who had the privilege of knowing her.”

Baxendale, who was cast in the world premiere of Matthew Bourne’s Romeo

and Juliet, bought the biscuits from a branch of Stew Leonard’s in Connecticut. The cookies are understood to have been made by wholesaler Cookies United and labelled with Stew Leonard’s brand name.

Stew Leonard Jr, the firm’s CEO, said in a video that the supplier had changed soy nuts to peanuts in the recipe without notifying their chief safety officer.

Stew Leonard’s has recalled all the mislabelled biscuits in partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration.