Do you let your (anaphylactic) kids eat airline food?

[Weta]

We're going home to New Zealand in a couple of weeks, and I was looking at the Allergy NZ site which says allergic people should never eat airline food and you shouldn't take such risks when up in the air.

I did have a problem a few years ago with DS1 getting the wrong meal, but it turned out I had been badly advised by the airline staff to order a non-dairy vegetarian meal. Last time I wrote to them in advance and they gave me a special form to fill in and booked him for a medical non-lactose meal (supposed to be fully dairy free). The meal looked fine (no sauces, no cheese, no milk, no dessert!) and it was all ok.

So am I being irresponsible in letting DS1 eat the airline food?? I will take dehydrated pasta meals as backup in case I suspect a problem, and he will have his meds with him. He is also doing well on a desensitisation protocol so is presumably less allergic than he once was.

The only other option I can see is 4 or 5 identical dehydrated pasta meals during the 24 hour flight!!

Hi Weta
Long time lurker here, but I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts, so thought it was time to add some of my own! My son is 9 and allergic to eggs and nuts (growing out of his egg allergy finally). We've been to various places in North America, so long flights, but not as long as yours!

Personally we don't let him eat airline food, for me it's not worth the risk whilst 30000 feet in the air. We have bought a food flask, and take sandwiches and pasta, cocktail sausages, crisps, nut free chocolate, individual cereal pots, fruit, that kind of thing. We;ve never head any trouble getting it through security (you can take anything through that isn't liquid). You may have to throw away all uneaten food before arrival.

At the end of the day though, it's your call. I would have some back up food though, as I've heard tales of airlines forgetting to load special meals on occasion.

Best wishes,
TJ

I should have said, I have had suggestions on here before for types of food we could take with us, and I will take some of those along.

The problem is really the sheer length of the journey... we are staying overnight in a hotel in Frankfurt, and then have a 12-hour flight leaving at midday, followed by 14 hours in Singapore and then another 12-hour flight. So it's about 60 hours from leaving home until we arrive - obviously he can eat other food in Frankfurt and in Singapore airport, but it makes it difficult to keep the food for the flights fresh. And he's a REALLY big eater.

But if everybody thinks it is a risk we shouldn't be taking then I guess I need to think again and try to find a way through...

mmmmm, the overnight stay would make it a lot more tricky - I was working on 30 hours from leaving home to arriving. In that case I might be tempted to give it a go, esp as you've had no problems in the past - is it the same airline? I think I'd (personally) still take some crisps/choc etc - stuff that doesn't need keeping fresh just in case of failure to load special meal etc....

Thanks to both of you for your thoughts... will definitely be taking enough back-up food anyway to cover problems.

tjbhrj - yes it is the same airline so I am more confident, but I am starting to think it's not worth taking too much of a risk somehow.

BB - will look up the guidelines. I have a cert from the specialist saying he is anaphylactic and needs to carry his emergency meds on him at all times, with a list of those meds. Is that what you mean?
Was particularly interested in your response as I know you are brave about restaurants etc... does your son eat things like sausages, baked beans, fish fingers, tinned fish etc cold? don't think mine would!! I think I'd be happy for him to have stuff like fruit or salad (served with no dressing) from the airline meal (plus crackers etc that come with a label) but maybe try to cover the other meals for him. I did wonder about taking a thermos and getting a ready-meal heated at the airport and putting it in the flask...

Have to say, I wouldn't risk it personally but then I rarely let DS eat out either as I'm so scared about mistakes/cross contamination. We only go on short flights and take plenty of 'safe' foods in case of delays etc. I worry enough about him having a reaction from the seats never mind eating their food! The thought of an anaphylactic reaction at 30,000 ft just doesn't bear thinking about.

Babybarrister - do you have a link to the IATA guidelines? I'd be interested to see them. As I said, we've never had a problem with getting food through security, but we've stuck to no liquids. It's be interesting to see the guidelines to see if we can branch out a bit
Thank you
TJ

I found this: www.iata.org/whatwedo/safety_security/safety/health/Documents/Allergen-sensitive-passenger2010.pdf

I've been told before that they can't reheat meals but can provide boiling water (eg to add to dehydrated pasta meal).

Have had a thought for my situation - I could probably ask the hotel in Frankfurt to put something in the fridge and maybe make up some tabbouleh or something...

freefrom bizarrely enough we don't really eat out but somehow I guess I was putting faith in something 'official' like an airline. Think I am definitely changing my approach though! he did have a reaction the first time and it was awful, though thankfully controlled with steroids and antihistamine.

I worked in Airline catering for years and can say all allergies are taken very seriously [10,000 feet is not the time to have a problem with food] Contact the airline and speak to them and see what alternatives their catering company can provide that meet your requirements. If it is severe they can remove a product from the catering line for that flt [the main ones we removed were M&M sweets, nuts, pkts biscuits and on occasion changed the entire menu]
On reheating your own food, Any where I worked we would refuse to heat on food safety grounds, even heating baby food or bottles were a no go.

Oh and if you do get sp mls for you DC request that it is highlighted on the pax manifest when you check in so the crew will see it along with all other special requests and check that catering is on board or tell you before it becomes an issue. Check again at the gate before boarding that the crew are aware on everything is on board.

thanks canyou, that's really interesting.

I have been in touch with the airline (Singapore) and filled in a special form for a medical non-dairy meal, and they have sent me confirmation that he is registered for this. When I did it before they come right at the beginning with a special sticker for his seat.

I guess the issue really is how much you can trust the caterers to get it right... last time I did it it was kind of obvious that it was ok because everything was very plain - just fruit, undressed salad, rice wafers and then very plain meat and vegetables with no sauces or anything at all.

there is no way i would trust a meal that has been handled and passed through so many people to get to the right allergic person.
certainly a mistake in a airplane is going to be difficult to manage, if extra help is required .....

we have always taken some safe food with us for our son.

We just travelled on a 30 hour plane journey with cmp allergic dd. I ordered a vegan meal for her as well as taking some of our own stuff. The meal arrived, I examined it. I read the ingredients on the margarine supplied and, yes, it had milk in it. After that, I couldn't trust the rest of the meal. So my advice would be take your own stuff.

Just looking at this with interest as we are flying to Australia soon.
the airline cannot guarantee the food so we are looking into what we can take with us. DS is allergic to eggs, nuts, fish, seafood, sesame.

Any ideas other than sandwiches and crackers/fruit welcome. The first leg of our flight is overnight. We are then several hours in Seoul airport and fly again later that day. It would therefore something that is ok to keep to the next day. - Am I allowed to take ice packs in my bag?

So I have never heard of dehydrated pasta meals - where do you get them?

Thanks

alison222 I don't know what they are really called, that's just what I call them! We live in Luxembourg so not the same brands or anything, but it's basically like a pot of noodles where you just add boiling water and wait for 5 minutes before stirring. DS1 can eat a spaghetti bolognaise one (I think the brand here is Knorr) but the others all have cheese in them so no good for him. I imagine brands like Maggi do something similar, or you might find more Chinese-style noodle ones too. Obviously if you do find something like this you should try it out on your DS before you go.

Someone else suggested getting dehydrated meals for hikers where you can just add water - I did try this but the ones I found all had dairy in them.

I think (but don't know for sure) that ice packs probably wouldn't get past airport security...

I think you could do some kind of pasta/couscous salad with salami in - salami wouldn't really go off and it would probably all taste ok even after the first flight.

It's also worth looking at what the actual meals will be - I was surprised to find that on our outward trip it will be two dinners and two breakfasts, and I figure breakfast is actually easier as I can just take bread and maybe a tiny thing of jam, plus some fruit.

We have 13 hours in Singapore so I am also taking some ready meals - I get these from the supermarket or from my work canteen which has guaranteed allergen-free ones. Again, DS1 has tried them lots of times and I am confident they are safe for him. Then when we have a meal at the airport we can ask for one of those meals to be heated for DS1. Apparently you're not supposed to take them on the flight, but the airline said it's ok if I have a medical cert saying that he has to take his own food (you also need one for the medication, especially epipen syringes and any liquids over the limit).

I have a letter from the doctor to allow the epipens and antihistamine, but we have never done a really long flight with DS before where we couldn't eat before and after the flight iyswim, so I didn't think about asking for it to include being allowed to take my own food onto the plane.
I wonder if the doctor will do me another letter to include this.... Hmmm...

Breakfast I can do, we will need lunch in the airport, and I guess dinner would be on the plane - so something on the plane.

Coming back we are overnight in a hotel in Seoul provided by the airline so that will be another headache altogether - and will depend on what I can get in Australian supermarkets too.

Well I had to ring our specialist yesterday to ask for another letter about the food, having already rung last week for one about the meds... just do it :)

Am sure you should be able to find some kind of ready meal in the supermarket - ours also has ones which are a kind of vacuum-packed container of pasta eg ravioli with tofu in a tomato sauce, and they just need heating. At least in the hotel they will have a microwave and be able to heat a meal for you, whereas in the plane you either have to take cold food or something where you just add hot water.