A 78-year-old woman from Washington tragically lost her life due to a severe allergic reaction, just a few months shy of her 60th wedding anniversary. The fatal incident was a result of consuming a mislabeled cookie from a local grocery store, her family revealed. Peggy Bryant, who had a serious allergy to peanuts, unknowingly ate a peanut butter cookie that was wrongly marked as an oatmeal raisin cookie in April 2023, her daughter, Lisa Bishop, reported.
Bryant had purchased the cookies from a Safeway supermarket in Duvall, Washington. Upon tasting the cookie, she immediately sensed something was wrong. Bishop recounted her mother’s fondness for oatmeal raisin cookies and the horrifying realization that she was actually consuming a peanut butter cookie, to which she had a fatal allergy.
Despite immediate medical attention, Bryant succumbed to her allergic reaction within an hour. The King County Coroner confirmed the cause of death as anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction. According to Bryant’s son-in-law, Greg Bishop, her “blood vessels had essentially collapsed.”
In the wake of this heartbreaking incident, Bryant’s family has initiated a wrongful death lawsuit against Safeway. Albertsons Companies, Inc., the parent company of Safeway, voluntarily recalled the oatmeal raisin cookies sold at the Duvall location nearly a month after Bryant’s death. The recall was prompted by an “undeclared peanut and soy allergen,” as indicated in a recall notice by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FDA’s recall impacted 18-count cookies sold between April 5 and April 17, 2023. The recall notice stated, “We have received a report that a package of cookies was labeled as Oatmeal Raisin but may have contained Peanut Butter Cookies. As a result, peanuts and soy were not listed within the ingredient statement. The recalled cookies were packaged in clear plastic containers available within the store’s bakery department.”
The recall notice also referenced a “serious adverse event,” without specifically mentioning Bryant. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has not yet issued a statement regarding the incident.
The family’s lawsuit reportedly suggested that Bryant’s death was a preventable tragedy. “The last few minutes of my mom’s life were tragic and awful and painful,” Lisa Bishop said. “Do the right thing. I don’t want it to happen to anybody else. Labels are there for a reason, and I don’t want anybody else to die from mislabeling.”
This incident is reminiscent of a similar case in January 2024, when a professional dancer from New York City died after consuming holiday cookies from a Stew Leonards supermarket that were incorrectly labeled. The dancer, Órla Baxendale, 25, suffered a severe peanut allergic reaction and was unable to recover because her EpiPen reportedly was ineffective. Baxendale’s family and Stew Leonard’s reached a settlement in January 2025.