Stew Leonard’s recalls 8 chicken products weeks after NYC dancer’s death blamed on mislabeled cookies
Stew Leonard’s has recalled eight chicken products over fears they might contain undeclared milk less than a month after a New York City professional dancer died from an incorrectly labeled holiday cookie from the supermarket.
The urgent recall – the third for Stew Leonard’s since last month — includes sliced and shaved chicken and sliced and shaved Buffalo chicken, as well as a variety of chicken salads and a chicken salad sub sandwich, the company said in a news release Monday.
“People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products,” according to the supermarket, though it made clear that no illnesses have been reported so far.
The products were sold at seven store locations, including Yonkers, East Meadow and Farmingdale, as well as Paramus, NJ, and Danbury, Norwalk and Newington in Connecticut. Customers could have purchased the items between August 2022 and Jan. 29 of this year.
Two of the products, the Cape Cod chicken salad and lite chicken salad, were only sold at the Norwalk store. Other salads with a wider offering include a chicken salad, Buffalo chicken salad and Boom Boom chicken salad.
Customers can return the products to Stew Leonard’s customer service to receive a full refund.
The recall comes as the company faces likely legal action following the death of 25-year-old Órla Baxendale, who went into anaphylactic shock from a severe allergic reaction after eating a Vanilla Florentine cookie on Jan. 11, her family’s lawyer said.
Attorney Marijo Adimey alleged last month an investigation into the UK native’s death shows “gross negligence and reckless conduct of the manufacturer and/or sellers” for not stating on the cookies’ packaging that the product contained peanuts.
Stew Leonard’s leaders have claimed that the Long Island company that supplied the cookies didn’t inform them of an ingredient change.
But the wholesaler, Cookies United, has insisted it shared that crucial information with Stew Leonard’s, which they alleged failed to properly label the cookies as containing peanuts when changing the packaging to represent the store’s brand.
The cookie was recalled on Jan. 25 with Stew Leonard’s stating that it’s “working with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and the supplier to determine the cause of the labeling error.”
Two days after that recall, the store also recalled Rainbow Cookies sold under the brand’s label in Danbury and Norwalk.
“All allergens were declared on the label, but the label did not show all non-allergen ingredients,” the company said. “No illnesses have been reported.”
