AIBU for eating nuts next to someone with an allergy on a plane?

[PrincessJoann]

Had a bizarre situation today. I was flying from Hawaii to Florida. The stewards were walking around giving out mixed nuts.

The woman seated next to me said to the flight attendants that she didn’t want any because she is allergic to nuts and that there should’ve been a note in their system regarding not serving her nuts.

The attendant said in the survey she’d filled out for the airline regarding injury she had not indicated that it was an airborne allergy and only checked that she couldn’t ingest nuts. She stated they still shouldn’t have served them and she shouldn’t need to be that specific.

The attendants asked her if we needed to make an emergency landing or if she required medical attention. She said no.

The woman asked me if I could not eat the mixed nuts. Everyone around us had an open plastic cup of mixed nuts. I told her I wasn’t sure how my eating them or not would help her in this situation. She said it was just a courtesy.

I told her (truthfully) I hadn’t eaten at all yet and needed to have something in my stomach to take a medication. I asked her if I could go to the back of the plane to eat the nuts then come back. She sort of rolled her eyes but said this was fine.

When I came back she was complaining to the flight attendants about me and asking to be moved, specifically using the term “that asshole.”

I feel badly that I didn’t handle the situation better. AIBU?

Are you suggesting people with nut allergies should not fly, while continuing to allow nuts upon planes? Surely the fairest option is to just ban the nuts, like they do in schools. Somebody's craving for a nut 'snack' does not trump those with a serious allergy.

I think everyone involved in this is being daft to be honest. Her for not filling the form out properly and expecting them to guess, the stewardesses for not dealing with the matter when it was raised, and you for not just putting the nuts away when you found out.

You are unreasonable. There is also a chance of cross contamination.

You’re right, it wasn’t the OP but the passenger next to them. A nut allergy sufferer is overwhelmingly likely to be at risk of anaphylaxis, therefore, life-threatening. Not intolerance.

It seems the risk of airborne peanut proteins is far lower than the hyperbole on this thread would have us all believe. This was published in the BMJ late last year.

Flying with nut and other food allergies: unravelling fact from fiction

https://adc.bmj.com/content/110/5/334

My child has a tree nut and fish allergy and is fastidious about checking ingredients. The worry of course is when an ingredient isn’t listed ie Pret. For something as prevalent as a peanut allergy, it’s really no issue for the airline to not carry them. Ryanair don’t.

Probably just explain to the staff that you need an alternative snack.

Not sure how good the few g of nuts would be at helping you with medication anyway, and if I had too take medication that required food on a plane I wouldn't be trusting it to the airline to come up with a sensible snack. Sometimes they don't have any for operational reasons.

If there had been a medical emergency and the flight diverted it would have been pretty inconveniencing for the entire plane, including you.

And that passenger is an idiot for not informing the plane of the nut allergy.

You did nothing wrong. The other person was wrong for using an abusive term to describe you. Also I don't know what good they expected it to do given everyone else they could be moved next to would also have been a risk of having eaten nuts.

If you have a serious nut allergy, tell the airline before you get on the plane!

You'll find the BMJ paper I linked above interesting then. The research says that when flying you should probably be more concerned about the fish allergy than the nut allergy.

I don't think it is so much the airborne element, but more the risk of nut traces contaminating surfaces, e.g, food trays, toilets, other foods, etc. Think of viruses and how easily they become contagious by somebody touching a surface, then touching their mouth. Nuts are generally eaten with hands as well, and so easily transferable, hence banning in schools.

I have no idea why nuts even need to be served on planes!
My daughter has a tree nut allergy and thankfully hers is not airbourne.
On the other hand, the lady should have completed the form properly!

I'm quite clear what cross contamination is. Read the paper.

Than it isn't hyperbole than is it? Do you not agree that nuts should be banned on planes, or just because there isn't a high chance of it being airborne they should stay? Isn't the contamination element enough on it's own? I don't think airborne is here not there, when there is a high risk of transference anyway?

I would have had a conversation with her to find out more about her allergy. DS is allergic to peanuts but only if he eats pieces of them (though obviously he avoids them). His friend at school was massively allergic even to touching something that had been touched by someone eating nuts.
I'd try to understand why the woman wanted you to not eat the nuts rather than jump to take umbrage.

In this situation I would not have eaten the nuts, I'd have requested some biscuits or something like that and taken my medication.

Like any regular non "that asshole" type would do

Yes very strange choice of snack for an airline nowadays.

As another poster said residue could have been on fingers that the allergic poster couldn't then been contaminated with.

I manage perfectly fine not eating nuts they really aren't a must have food.

A biscuit with her meds would have been fine.

I hate it when these people with needs or allergies think that they are special and can’t be bothered with politely asking or filling in forms before they do/ go places .

It's not nonsense is it

There are nut allergies that can kill. It's silly to have nuts on a plane when it's such a common allergen

My child has a severe dairy allergy, carries an epi pen. Dairy allergies are more fatal to children than any other allergy. We fly all the time and he sits next to people drinking milky coffees, I get nervous about it but I don’t police other people because his allergy is not airborne. If she had an airborne nut allergy it would obviously be completely different but as she did not I think she was being unreasonable

But surely the cross contamination can occur if people for example at nursery in airport before boarding?

And what would you have done about all the other passengers eating the nuts?

Never mind the fact that fully dead is quite a high bar. OH is allergic to cats, it causes typical discomfort and I definitely wouldn't eat a cat next to her

It could, but it lowers the risk by just not allowing nuts on the plane?

I can't do anything about them can I?

However I act under my own volition and don't need to join in if particularly requested. And biscuits are nicer

My DS is highly allergy to peanuts, if HE eats them. I could sit there and eat a jar of peanut butter next to him and it wouldn't matter.

She was unreasonable despite knowing and stating hers was not an airborne allergy