A Texas student has tragically died after eating a meal at a restaurant she had visited "repeatedly", her family has revealed.
In a heart-wrenching incident in Stephenville, 23-year-old Alison Pickering passed away after suffering an allergic reaction after the restaurant changed its recipe.
The Tarleton State University student was at the restaurant on a first date, having selected the venue due to her knowledge of meals there that were previously safe for her to eat.
Alison, who was allergic to peanuts, succumbed to anaphylactic shock after dining at the restaurant where her family says she was a regular.
The restaurant had recently changed their menu, The Mirror reports, adding peanut sauce to a dish that Alison had previously eaten safely - the mahi-mahi.
The publication adds that the servers also weren't informed of the menu change.
The student quickly realized the grave mistake as she started to feel unwell. Alison used her Epipen and was conscious when the ambulance arrived. However, her condition rapidly deteriorated and she tragically passed away.
Alison's sudden death unfolded just days before her graduation from Tarleton State University in May 2023. Her obituary states that she passed away after suffering an anaphylactic shock.
Despite her careful management of her allergy - including avoiding sauces and dips likely to contain nuts - the lack of information about the updated menu proved fatal and has sparked a conversation around food safety
Her parents, Joy and Grover Pickering, are now advocating for greater allergy awareness. They highlighted the dangers of menu changes in restaurants and the critical need for communication about such updates to all staff and customers.
Speaking to CBS News, her father said of his late daughter: "She would repeatedly go to the same restaurants and order the same dishes, you know. And that was a common thing.
"She took a few bites, realized something was wrong. She did her Epipen. The ambulance came. She actually walked to the ambulance talking to them, but somewhere along the way things went downhill."
"It's tragic and it doesn't need to happen to anyone else," Alison's father added.
In response to such incidents, the Texas Legislature passed the Sergio Lopez Food Allergy Awareness Act.
Named after another young victim who died from an allergic reaction to peanuts in 2014, the law mandates increased allergy awareness. It requires the display of posters in food service establishments to educate about food allergies and proper responses to allergic reactions. Moreover, it insists that food training programs and the food manager certification exam include food allergies as a subject matter.
The Pickerings are now working "to determine what guidelines could be put in place to help restaurants have better communication to their customers as far as ingredients", Mr. Pickering said.
"I know we're going to save lives by doing this," mom Joy added.
Our thoughts continue to go out to Pickering's family and loved ones at this time.
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