Suit Claims Health Bar Caused Boy’s Death

SANTA ANA —  A 12-year-old Fountain Valley boy who died in his father’s arms minutes after eating a health bar suffered an allergic reaction to nuts, which were not listed on the label, according to a suit filed by his parents.

Barbara and Joseph Flanagan allege in the suit filed this week in Orange County Superior Court that their son Joey suffered convulsions and died a year ago Friday after eating a Balance bar. They are suing the manufacturer and distributor for failing to list peanuts as an ingredient on the wrapper.

“We were religious readers of labels,” Joseph Flanagan said. “And it wasn’t on the label.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began an extensive investigation into Balance bars that stretched into Canada as a result of Joey Flanagan’s death, said Mary LoVetere, a compliance officer with the agency’s Irvine district office. They found no nuts or nut residues in the variously flavored Balance bars, she said.

“The bottom line was we were not able to confirm that there were peanuts in the product,” LoVetere said.

The Flanagans, however, say in their lawsuit that after Joey’s death they saw Balance bar wrappers that noted that the product “may contain traces of various nuts.”

LoVetere said that her agency was aware of the new Balance bar labels and that they might be the result of FDA inquiries, although the FDA made no such requirement of the company.

Neither the manufacturer, Bariatrix of Canada, nor the distributor, Bio Foods Inc. of Santa Barbara, could be reached for comment.

The Orange County coroner’s report lists Joey’s cause of death as asthma, and his parents confirm that he did suffer from asthma.

But the parents contend that Joey’s severe wheezing before he died could have only come from the Balance bar, which his parents had never purchased before.

Joseph Flanagan, 43, a workers’ compensation attorney, said he “really would rather not have a lawsuit. But I believe there were peanuts in that bar, and I can’t let it go.”

Dr. Jonathan Corren, an assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at UCLA who also is in private practice, said he might see one or two cases a year of violent reactions to peanuts. He said allergic reactions to food can trigger and exacerbate preexisting conditions such as asthma.

“It’s always a detective story,” he added.