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Soon-to-be college graduate died from allergic reaction on first date after restaurant she visited regularly secretly changed menu
ByNicholas McEntyre
Published Nov. 28, 2024, 1:08 a.m. ET
A Texas college student with a severe peanut allergy died after eating at a restaurant she would frequent, but had no idea the establishment changed their recipe – leading to the fatal allergic reaction and her parents demanding change in the food industry.
Alison Pickering, 23, was days away from graduating from Tarleton State University when she went out on a first date, deciding on a restaurant she knew had food she could eat despite her severe allergies.
Pickering, who discovered she had a peanut allergy when she was in preschool, had always been cautious of the places she ate out at and wouldn’t change up her dining locales for her safety.
“She would repeatedly go to the same restaurants and order the same dishes, you know. And that was a common thing,” Pickering’s father, Grover Pickering told CBS News Texas.
For her date on May 12, 2023, she chose an unidentified restaurant she had been to before and ordered the mahi mahi, a dish she had ordered from the business before.
Unbeknownst to her, and the wait staff, the kitchen had recently changed the recipe for the dish, adding peanut sauce to the fish.
“She took a few bites, realized something was wrong,” Grover Pickering said.
Feeling the effects of the peanut sauce, Pickering administered her EpiPen and even walked to an ambulance outside where she spoke to the medics.
“Somewhere along the way things went downhill,” the heartbroken father said.
Pickering fell unconscious and never woke up.
Pickering died from a “severe anaphylactic shock from ingesting peanuts that were not disclosed on the restaurant menu,” her obituary read.
A year and a half after their daughter’s tragic death, the Pickerings are working to prevent more people from dying because of hidden allergens at restaurants.
“We would love to see more done to make wait staff and patrons aware,” Joy Pickering told CBS Texas.
Part of the change includes Texas restaurants working on communication between all staff members involving changes to recipes especially when it comes to allergens.
“To determine what guidelines could be put in place to help restaurants have better communication to their customers as far as ingredients, much like labels on grocery store items you buy,” Grover Pickering added
“I know we’re going to save lives by doing this,” Joy Pickering said.
Hannah Glass a 19-year-old freshman at Maranatha Baptist University in Wisconsin, died after she ate a gluten-free brownie that was made with roasted peanut flour.
Glass, who had a severe peanut allergy, broke out into hives and became violently ill after eating the treat baked by a women’s group specifically for gluten-free students on Nov. 5
“The second bite, she knew something was wrong,” her father, David Glass, told WISN12. “We believe because this product contained roasted peanut flour, separate from oily peanut butter, that masked this.”
Glass’ family donated her organs when her body completely shut down.
