NORTHAMPTON — More than two years after a woman died of an allergic reaction, allegedly from eating a pizza at a downtown restaurant, her estate is now seeking a court order to test the pizza, according to a civil lawsuit filed in Hampden Superior Court.
On Jan. 8, 2023, Kierstin Hedin had met with two friends at HighBrow Wood Fired Kitchen, located on Crafts Avenue in Northampton, for lunch. Hedin, a New Hampshire resident, had a severe dairy allergy and had been under the care of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for the condition, according to court documents.
At the restaurant, Hedin had ordered the “Sticky Ribs” appetizer and the “Short Rib & Grilled Red Onion” pizza. The pizza is described on the restaurant’s website as containing tomato puree, braised beef short rib, grilled red onions, roasted garlic, asiago and mozzarella cheese. According to the complaint filed by her estate on June 27, Hedin specifically requested the pizza be prepared with lactose-free cheese.
However, the complaint states that shortly after eating, Hedin soon began feeling symptoms of a reaction and went to the restroom. She subsequently suffered an anaphylactic reaction and died five days later of a hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, resulting from a lack of oxygen flow to the brain, according to the court complaint.
Leftovers of the pizza Hedin consumed were seized by the Northampton Police Department and have been kept frozen ever since. Hedin’s estate, represented by her father Eric Hedin and attorney Alan Cantor, have struggled to come to an agreement with HighBrow, represented by attorney Peter Bosse, on where the pizza should be tested for remnants of dairy. Cantor declined to comment for this story, and Bosse did not return requests for comment on Monday.
Court records show that in December 2024, the estate had proposed using Trelfa Labs in Salisbury, the only lab in Massachusetts equipped to conduct testing. The lab offers a test known as “AlerTox Sticks Total Milk,” that can detect the presence of milk proteins, but not their quantity. HighBrow countered with a request for a different, more complex form of testing known as “AlerTox ELISA Casein” which would require the pizza to be moved out of state.
The estate then proposed sending the pizza to Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP) lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as outlining the logistics and testing procedures. But according to court records, HighBrow made additional demands to have their own expert present during the testing process, something the FARRP Director Joseph Baumert told the estate was not allowed at the Nebraska lab.
The NPD and Northwestern District Attorney’s office have indicated that the pizza would be released only by a mutual agreement or a court order. The plaintiffs are seeking a court order to have the pizza transferred with the statue of limitations expiring in six months.
“Despite Plaintiff’s exhaustive efforts, Defendant has not agreed to the testing and has offered no alternative solutions,” the complaint states.
“Plaintiff acted in good faith to secure testing necessary for bringing this action, and the defense, after initially agreeing to proceed under Dr. Baumert’s conditions, has now changed its position without offering an alternative.”
Formerly Pizzera Paradiso, the restaurant changed its name in 2019 after it was acquired by Andrew Brow, who renamed it HighBrow Wood Fired Kitchen. In addition to pizza, the restaurant also serves, pasta, Asian fusion and salad dishes.
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
