How to determine what I should eat on a flight with passengers with nut allergies

8/2/2019 8:28:12 AM

I wasn’t able to find any official airline guidance, so I went and asked a friend who has severe allergies (including peanut) what she would want people to do. The important one (don’t eat things containing nuts) is obvious, but she said you’d be surprised how many people ignore it. If you see someone eating nuts on a flight where they’ve said not to, call the steward and ask them to deal with it. Given the air circulation system, anyone in the same plane section is putting severe allergy people at risk.

Beyond that, for items “packaged in an environment containing nuts” or similar, the risk is much reduced (because, as has been noted, it’s more a disclaimer than anything). If you feel you want/need to do something, ask the people around you if they are OK with it (specifically the people in the same seat block as you, so the window/aisle/middle seat next to you). If they’re fine, you should be OK, it’s much lower risk for anyone except those with the most severe allergies (the kind that probably won’t fly anyway because the risk is too great, or have special arrangements made by the cabin staff). Once you’re done, try to get the steward to take the packaging as soon as possible, and also wash your hands, both as a precautionary measure. While she herself can’t eat things that hold this disclaimer, she can be around others eating these things, she just doesn’t want to take the risk of touching it, directly or indirectly.

More importantly, don’t go questioning or hunting too far for the person(s) with allergies. If someone says they aren’t OK with you eating your food, accept that at face value. She’s had at at least one, ahem, interesting altercation with an individual who believed their “right” to eat whatever they wanted trumped her right to a flight where she didn’t go into anaphylactic shock, and everyone else’s right to a flight that doesn’t have to make an emergency landing.

Also, she wanted to thank you for asking this question, and for being considerate. Despite how widespread the issue of allergies are known, you see very few people asking what they can do to help those people.

8/1/2019 9:05:27 PM

This kind of writing commonly found on food packaging

This product is prepared in a kitchen where nuts are used. It may contain traces of nuts.

Is a disclaimer. It serves the sole purpose of protecting the company from lawsuits in case a consumer gets an allergic reaction after eating their product. It makes sense for companies to use such a disclaimer because it rids them of the burden to have to guarantee absolutely zero presence of nuts and other allergens which, given their volatility, is everything but a trivial task.

Now, what you can do in the situation you described is to use your common sense. Like you correctly state: do not eat products which specifically state they contain the allergen. Anything else is most likely safe.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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