"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is investigating Starbucks' labelling practices, after a young woman ate a parfait from a Coquitlam, B.C., outlet and almost died.
"I was shaking. My eyes were rolling into the back of my head. I wasn't breathing," said Kristin Gardiner. "The ambulance attendant later told me they couldn't get me to breathe."
Gardiner is allergic to nuts. On May 19, 2008, Gardiner said she ate a Starbucks Peach Yogurt Parfait — after finding no mention of nuts in the listed ingredients and being assured by a Starbucks employee that it was nut-free.
"I am very careful with what I eat and what I consume, and I always read things," said Gardiner.
The product included a granola topping, but the label listed the granola ingredients as "rolled oats, brown sugar…." Gardiner said the parfait was the first thing she ate that day.
Almost immediately after eating the dessert, Gardiner said she started feeling itchy. Within minutes, she couldn't breathe. She went into anaphylactic shock as the ambulance arrived.
"I was dying. There was no oxygen going to my brain," she said.