Would you eat a packet of nuts on a plane?

@Rumors1

A lot of people who die from anaphylaxis die from cardiac arrest, also the gastro issues and syncope (fainting) could be as a result of allergy. Anaphylaxis isnt just not being able to breathe, commonly your blood pressure drops causing a heart attack or in a less severe case, fainting. They may not have a separate category for allergy.

Have you had a look at the JACI paper I linked to upthread for an example of how the data is categorised and handled?

If you have to deal with an Inflight Medical Event as crew the healthcare professionals who you talk to to get assistance really do try and get full chapter and verse of the event and records are kept so there's usually a full history of the event somewhere.

I can only offer anecdata from my own time as crew but that would tend to support the view that anaphylaxis events on board are vanishingly rare, OTOH "normal" cardiac events where there's no anaphylaxis involvement are sadly much more common.

I'd be really surprised if there was any massaging of stats going on.

so one draw the conclusion that on almost all flights there's at least one passenger with a nut allergy

Not quite that high. The probability of on a flight of 150-180 adults is around 50-60% according to google. Then add to it "peanut" allergies range from very mild to very severe. Not everyone will react to exposure in the air.

OP, there are processes in place to advise passengers if someone is allergic enough they need a peanut free flight. It would not even cross my mind, and nor should it, to avoid nuts unless instructed by flight crew.

A lot of people who die from anaphylaxis die from cardiac arrest, also the gastro issues and syncope (fainting) could be as a result of allergy. Anaphylaxis isnt just not being able to breathe, commonly your blood pressure drops causing a heart attack or in a less severe case, fainting. They may not have a separate category for allergy.

I do agree that the incidence is probably quite low, its just the severity of the harm is so high being so far away from a hospital.

I have flown with DS a good few times, we clean everything he could touch with soapy wipes, he doesnt use the bathroom or even leave his seat. We have anti histamines and 2 epipens and limit what he eats. I am still always a nervous wreck, I hate flying as the thoughts of a reaction on a plane is terrifying.
I am on edge the whole time watching him, literally my stomach collapses if he even coughs. Its very hard to overestimate the worry you feel but I am trying to allow him lead a normal life.

Thanks to this thread, I really want a bag of peanut M&Ms, and I can’t have them because I am type 2 diabetic, dammit.

Exactly the point I wanted to make. Thanks for wording it better than me

My son is allergic to Treenuts and Seeds (and DH is allergic to Brazil Nuts) but neither is allergic to Peanuts

Peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes. Maybe that's why.

Peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes. Maybe that's why.

My mum
was on a flight a few years ago, where they did an announcement that someone had a nut allergy therefore nuts were not permitted on board. They later came down the aisle with the trolley serving peanut m&m’s!! My mum is a nurse and quickly pointed it out to them!! Seriously!?!?!

Why would she ask? My son is allergic to fish, if you eat a tuna sandwich on a flight would you ask my son first if he was allergic? I don't think you would

I’m allergic to bananas and the smell makes me gag. These should also be banned on aircraft. And trains

@Tryingtokeepgoing

The top 4 reasons for medical diversions seem to be cardiac, neurological, gastrointestinal and syncope

Anecdata I know but based on a few decades flying around commercially (and before anyone asks, I was paid to do it) that sounds fair..

If you can get the article in the following link to open there are some interesting comments in both the summary and the conclusion:

https://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(23)00798-5/fulltext

I know some people are keen on the "you can't be too careful' solution to problems such as this but the logical conclusion if you go down that road is no one flies..

The reality it's about managing risk, not absolutely 100% eliminating it.

I think that very sad story of the girl on the plane was when she herself consumed a pret sandwich full of nuts.

I don't think there's been a case of someone getting a severe nut allergy due to particulates from someone else eating it.

As a further data point, google suggest that1 in 200 adults in the UK has a nut allergy, so one could draw the conclusion that on almost all flights there's at least one passenger with a nut allergy. One can also assume that on almost all flights nuts are present, because they are a common and widely consumed food stuff.

And yet, google also suggests that globally only 1in 600 flights is diverted because of a medical emergency, and that is for any medical emergency not just nut related ones. The top 4 reasons for medical diversions seem to be cardiac, neurological, gastrointestinal and syncope (which I think is basically fainting though for all sorts of underlying reasons?). Allergic reactions don't feature - so consumption of nuts in flight is a complete non issue, unless specifically called out. Even then I suspect the real risk is very low.

Yes, I have been served nuts on a plane in the last year. I would eat them unless there had been a PA advisory.

This. Im not sure why eating nuts is presented as some strange an unusual or special thing. I eat them constantly.

Please no

I assume you’ve never been in a pub then? You would be surrounded by “selfish and unreasonable” people selling, buying and eating all kinds of nuts. It’s completely normal behaviour.

I would unless asked not to because a passenger or crew member had an allergy. I love nut products but of course I can manage a flight without my favourite snack.

Nuts, isn’t it.

This is basically it. Why has the thread gone on so long?

@Tryingtokeepgoing

If there was any appreciable risk then airlines wouldn’t serve nuts at all. As almost all airlines do serve nuts as a matter of course I think it’s safe to assume than the actual risk is negligible, otherwise there’d be frequent medical emergencies on planes, and diversions.

Absolutely right.

Diversions can carry risk and they certainly cost, so the airlines (often with inhouse medical expertise) track the incidence of diversions and if nuts were causing frequent medical emergencies and resulting in diversions policies would change.

The airlines also have to bear in mind from a customer sentiment POV a complete, total, permanent ban, of nut or nut related product consumption onboard would not play well with those passengers who have dietary requirements that mean nuts are a feature of their usual diet.

This is another one of those issues where the airlines have to engage in a balancing act to try and keep as many of their customers as reasonably happy as possible whilst keeping everyone safe.

I've got a bag of hazelnuts from Turkish Airlines in the house that are served on board, so yes recently.

It's perfectly fine to eat nuts on a plane unless asked not to by crew.

As posted up thread, if there was any appreciable risk then airlines wouldn’t serve nuts at all. As almost all airlines do serve nuts as a matter of course I think it’s safe to assume than the actual risk is negligible, otherwise there’d be frequent medical emergencies on planes, and diversions.

Since both cost money and are disruptive to operations and airlines are keen to save money and run an efficient operation, I think it’s reasonable to draw the conclusion that the risks highlighted on this tread are massively exaggerated and that it’s generally completely safe and reasonable to consume nuts on a flight, unless there’s an announcement to the contrary. There’s certainly no need to check before tucking in.

Furthermore, in the case of M&Ms which have been referenced a few times, as the nuts in those are completely enrobed in chocolate, then a sugar coating and then ‘varnished’ the minuscule risk posed by nuts must be reduced to virtually nil in them!

I live in NZ. Famously on the other side of the world. I have a job that requires international flights (hence the BC flights)and I mixed this up with attending a friends wedding in Europe, a holiday, a visit back to the UK and a stopover in the USA to see a friend.