The mother of a 13-year-old girl who died after a severe reaction to a Costa hot chocolate has said allergen safety training should not be treated as a mere “box-ticking exercise” after a coroner concluded the girl died because staff “failed to follow procedures”.

Hannah Jacobs, who was allergic to dairy products, died on February 8, 2023, just hours after taking a sip of the drink, the inquest in East London was told.

The schoolgirl, from Barking in east London, also suffered from a fish and egg allergy and, according to the investigation, suffered an “immediate reaction” after just one sip of the hot chocolate, which was allegedly made with soy milk.

On Friday, the inquest concluded that Hannah died because “applicable procedures for discussing allergies were not followed” and there was a “miscommunication” between cafe staff and Hannah’s mother, Abimbola Duyile.

Deputy Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said: “The actual cause of death is failure to follow established procedures for discussing allergies and a lack of communication between the mother and the barista.”

A member of Ms Duyile’s legal team read a statement on her behalf to the inquest in East London, saying: “Having heard all the evidence over the last week, it is clear to me that whilst allergy training must be provided to the food industry and healthcare professionals, this training is not taken seriously enough.

“There is a real need for greater awareness of the symptoms of anaphylaxis in these industries and in society.

“It is unacceptable that people serving food and drinks have to repeat an allergy training test 20 times.

“It is not acceptable to treat allergy education as a mere box-ticking exercise. It is not acceptable to be a medical professional and not respond quickly enough to a possible anaphylactic reaction. The consequence of all this is that my daughter is no longer here.”

The investigation previously heard that at the time of Hannah’s death, Costa’s allergen training for new employees consisted of a series of online modules that could be accessed from home, as well as a quiz that trainees had to pass.

During the investigation, the court heard evidence from Costa employees about their training on food safety and allergens.

The court heard written statements from Costa employees. One of them said she failed the test 20 times before passing it. Another said her husband accompanied her on her first day of work to help them translate. They used Google Translate to help them read English.

Faton Abrashi, regional operations manager for Costa Coffee’s London branches, whose responsibility includes staff’s allergy response, told the inquiry on Thursday that baristas at Costa were only allowed to serve customers who had declared an allergy when placing their order if they had completed special allergy safety training.

Mr Abrashi confirmed that from February 2023 there will no longer be a requirement to complete the online modules in the presence of colleagues, but that they can be completed at home.

He said the online training was only offered in English and no other language options were available. Additionally, as a regional manager, he did not know how many times a trainee attempted the quiz before passing it.

The coroner also noted that on the day of her death, “neither Hannah nor her mother carried a prescribed EpiPen.”

The investigation previously found that there was an actual dispute over the order. Ms Duyile says she asked for two soy hot chocolates and asked staff to clean the equipment thoroughly.

An autopsy revealed that Hannah died of an anaphylactic hypersensitivity reaction triggered by an ingredient in her hot chocolate that caused an allergic reaction.