NYC mom suffered ‘very severe’ allergy reaction after biting into unlabeled tahini cookie — that barista insisted was OK to eat: suit
An Upper West Side mom with a severe sesame allergy went into anaphylactic shock when she ate a chocolate-chip cookie — made with tahini — at a local coffee shop, a new lawsuit says.
The cookie was only labeled “chocolate chip” — and while the barista knew it contained tahini, the worker didn’t realize tahini is made from sesame seeds and told her it was safe to eat, the Manhattan suit says.
Melissa Schwartz Nemeth’s reaction was so severe that the 36-year-old mother and wife is still undergoing medical treatment months later as a result, her suit claims.
Nemeth says in her suit that she was at Oren’s Daily Roast on Broadway in April when she decided to purchase a treat while on a walk with her 4-year-old and 18-month-old daughters.
The woman’s husband, Greg Nemeth, told The Post that his wife’s always asks if something contains sesame before biting into any food she didn’t prepare herself.
“You wouldn’t think necessarily that a chocolate chip cookie would have sesame seeds, but we always ask because you never know,” Greg said. “It’s a life-or-death scenario every time she eats sesame.”
Melissa told the Oren’s barista of her severe allergy but was reassured that the cookie was free of sesame, court documents say.
It only took one bite, thanks to her crippling allergy, for Melissa to learn the truth.
As her throat was closing up, Greg told The Post, his wife was determined to get the truth from the barista and asked once again if the seemingly innocuous cookie contained sesame.
“They said, ‘No, no, it’s a tahini chocolate chip cookie. There’s no sesame,’ ” Greg said.
Melissa’s lawyer, Scott Koltun, told The Post, “Fortunately she had her EpiPen with her and was able to somehow get her way home.”
Greg rushed home from work after his wife called and had to take several days off to watch their two kids while Melissa — a former fashion buyer at Bloomingdales and now full-time mom — was bedridden for the better part of a week as a result of her “very severe reaction,” he said.
Her suit alleges that the coffee shop “failed to listen” when she told them of her allergy, nor did they have the common allergen listed on any labels near the cookie display or on a menu.
As of last year, state law requires all establishments serving food to post a “food allergy awareness” poster, which implores workers to “take it seriously” if a customer says they have an allergy.
But currently there is no requirement to list allergens on a menu.
According to the suit, the cookie was not made in-house, and the menu has since changed to note that it is a tahini chocolate chip cookie.
“It’s important that employees be educated on what exactly they’re selling,” Koltun said.
Melissa previously sued an East Village Mexican restaurant in 2020 over a similar sesame exposure, but the incident appears to have been much less severe, according to the complaint. That suit was eventually settled.
In a recent high profile case, a Long Island doctor died after eating food at Disney Springs restaurant in Florida when a waiter assured her the meal was allergen-free.
“It’s concerning that sesame, a common food allergen, and the primary ingredient in tahini, isn’t always well-known or disclosed in food establishments,” said Sung Poblete of the allergen-awareness group, Food Allergy Research & Education.
“This highlights the need for better restaurant training and clearer food allergen labeling.”
Greg said the effect that the tahini cookie has had on his family is immense, saying that Melissa — who did not want to be interviewed for this story — is still “seeing multiple doctors” for ongoing medical issues because of her reaction. He declined to elaborate on what exact conditions his wife may be suffering from.
“It’s kind of scary to eat anything that’s out of the house at this point,” Greg said, adding that they’re mostly cooking all their meals at home these days.
“Every time she takes a bite of food now, she‘s taking a very, very small first bite to see if there’s anything there. And it’s scary,” he said.
For their 4-year-old daughter, the experience of watching her mother suffering from such a severe reaction was terrifying.
“She was scared,” Greg said, “she saw Mommy not being able to breathe.”
Oren’s Daily Roast did not reply to a Post request for comment.
