Nuts on planes

[Bookmonster123]

Hi

I am due to fly with DS soon, first time he’s been on a plane. DS has a peanut allergy, has epi pens prescribed. What’s the protocol about nuts during the flight.

Do I tell the airline at booking, check in or on the day? Do they always accommodate requests not to eat nuts during the flight?

Thanks

On trains and buses, You can get to a hospital more easily. The girl who died from a nut allergy, from a Pret baguette, would probably have survived if she'd not been on a plane. Her epi pen wasn't enough.

that's a very stupid question

cereal bars (plenty of gluten free options)

As an aside, as a coeliac I'd be grateful for any recommendations. All my go to options are nutty.

On my last flight with Easyjet, they informed all passengers that they wouldn't be selling nuts due to a passenger having a nut allergy. They also requested that passengers refrain from eating their own nuts. A perfectly reasonable request and all passengers were happy to oblige.

I’m coeliac and I can’t eat nuts at all as DS has a severe nut allergy so we won’t have anything with nuts or traces in the house. 20 years later I haven’t starved to death yet!

I have diabetes. All my flight snacks are nut-free (& gluten free for that matter) as I know how severe a nut allergy can be (& I'm not an arsehole who thinks my preferences are more important than other peoples lives/health).

Being devil's advocate here (not a personal opinion)...

250-400 people cannot eat nuts because of 1 person

And I doubt any airline in the world would be sending emails to passengers asking them not to eat nuts on the plane

You’ve never been on a plane where there’s been an announcement not to eat nuts @CaptainHaddocksPychotherapist ? I have, maybe half a dozen times.

Don't be ridiculous it is no hardship not to eat nuts for one flight. OP's DC should not be put at risk. Only a very selfish person would eat nuts after being requested not to for medical reasons.

No I haven't

But that wasn't my point

Assuming you don't react to oats, Nature Valley do a Honey and Oat bar which is nut free. Also Deliciously Ella has some fruit based bars.

I find Holland and Barratt good for finding new snacks!

God reading some of these replies is depressing. I wouldn’t eat peanuts on a plane if it was announced. It’s disgusting that people actually wouldn’t take heed and carry on eating them anyway. Selfish beyond belief.

Yes agree. Some people think they just know better and their rights are more important than others.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/06/07/british-airways-girl-with-allergy-nearly-died-as-man-refused-to-stop-snacking-16779250/

If you are on a bus or a train they can stop and offload you onto an ambulance if necessary. The same cannot be done on an airplane

I've had different experiences on different airlines. Usually they make an announcement, people groan. Some people don't hear. It can be quite stressful.

…and on a lot of flights (especially Long Haul) some people won’t understand any such announcement due to lack of familiarity with the language and so may go on to eat whatever snacks they have brought on board.

I’m not quite sure how far people think airlines should go in trying to enforce a “no nut” or no nut products in the cabin environment policy, or even how far it is reasonable to go.

The present policies most airlines will have in place will have been drafted with medical input and at least some consideration of the underlying statistics regarding medical incidents and medical related diversions.

Need to work, so sorry if I'm repeating what everyone has said!

We've never bothered informing the airline with DD (peanut allergy, epipens but no actual history of anaphylaxis). We make sure we have her meds (obviously!), wipe down her arm rest and tray and only give familiar foods we know she doesn't react to.

If you're going to inform the airline, do so in advance as really it's more important that they clean the plane properly, and they need notice for that.

Current thinking is that nut and peanut allergies aren't airborne so you don't really need to worry about that, but just be aware of contact points in case the person on the previous flight was eating a Snickers or something.

Same. They said there was a person with a nut allergy on board, so they weren't selling and we weren't to eat them. I continued with my day entirely unbothered by the brief removal of nut access.

Current thinking is that nut and peanut allergies aren't airborne so you don't really need to worry about that, but just be aware of contact points in case the person on the previous flight was eating a Snickers or something.

Can you link to this, @CelesteCunningham? I know someone who clearly reacts to airborne, so I'd be interested.

These threads must be infuriating to those with other anaphylactic allergies. No one ever bans milk or egg from a flight, both of which can trigger airborne reactions.

How to show how ignorant and uneducated you are in one post. Don't be that person.

Op, I've been on many flights and I would say that on more cases than not the cabin crew announce at the start of a flight there is a person with a nut allergy on the flight and asking passengers to refrain from eating them and that they wouldn't be selling them and I've never heard anyone complaining about it. Most folk are decent

Sorry, gotta run, but first result from Google:

While some people report symptoms such as skin rashes or chest tightness when they are near to or smell peanut butter, a placebo-controlled trial of children exposed to open peanut butter containers documented no systemic reactions. Still, food particles containing peanut proteins can become airborne during the grinding or pulverization of peanuts, and inhaling peanut protein in this type of situation could cause an allergic reaction. In addition, odors may cause conditioned physical responses, such as anxiety, a skin rash or a change in blood pressure.

https://acaai.org/allergies/allergic-conditions/food/peanut/

So unless something unusual is going on (eg grinding nuts to make nut butter), the protein doesn't become airborne as it's quite heavy. But lots out there if you have time to look.

Trains and buses can stop and allow access to emergency care, planes ✈️ can't! You obviously have zero knowledge regarding anaphylaxis!

Saw people grazing on nuts on a plane after allergy announcements multiple times. Maybe they didn’t hear it, or didn’t understand it, or didn’t care. Or thought that chocolate covered trail mix doesn’t count. Wouldn’t it make more sense to wear a long sleeved shirt with long trousers and a facemask then?

When I was on a BA Flight, everyone boarded, safety talk etc.
trolley goes up and down and then they announce “nut allergy on board, can everyone refrain from eating them”
a passenger announces “I bought these off trolley, I won’t open them again if that helps”

seems commonplace with all airlines when I share that story.
they make a fortune of off the trolleys.
take epipens and maybe glove/mask?
I know it horrid and I do feel for you but you actually can’t trust businesses.

There was a case recently when an airline would not make an announcement
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kkzzy8eqjo