A Florida teen has died after accidentally eating a Chips Ahoy! cookie. On June 25, Alexi Ryann Stafford suffered a severe allergic reaction after eating a cookie that contained peanuts.
Her mother, Kellie Travers-Stafford, said in a Facebook post that her daughter had accidentally eaten the cookie from a package that she and her husband had previously said was safe.
In the post, she explained that there was an open package of cookies. The top flap of the packaging was pulled back and it was similar to another that had been deemed safe to their daughter. She ate one of the cookies thinking it was safe because it had the red packaging. The difference on the packaging was that it included Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Kellie Travers-Stafford also posted an image of the packages and their similarities. The package that her daughter ate the cookie from was almost the same as the one that had been deemed safe to her. The package has a similar color along with the Chewy branding on the top. The only difference between the two packages she posted was on the top right corner. One of them shows the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups ingredient.
Similar Packages With Different Ingredients
Kellie Travers-Stafford also included a second image of other Chips Ahoy! packages that look nearly the same but have different ingredients. In the second picture, two Chips Ahoy! packages have the same brown color and design but one is Soft Chunky while the other is Soft Chunky with Peanut Butter.
She also said in her post that her daughter began feeling a tingling sensation. Her condition got worse and she died less than two hours after taking the bite. Kellie Travers-Stafford says the company has different colored packaging to indicate the type of cookie but no screaming warnings about the peanut butter ingredient.
Red Packaging Is Not For Ingredients, Company Says
The company behind the cookies released a statement to Today.com saying that consumers should always read packaging labels before consuming the product. The statement added that they are saddened to hear about this situation.
The family has pointed out the red packaging but the company said the colors are just for the cookie types. It added that they are not for ingredients and that the peanut butter is indicated on the front and sides of the packaging.