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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Would you eat a packet of nuts on a plane?

482 replies

Purpleturtle45 · 28/09/2025 22:11

I thought it was widely understood that you don't eat nuts on a plane. The woman next to me just cracked a packet open!

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Howwilliknow122 · 28/09/2025 23:36

Purpleturtle45 · 28/09/2025 22:15

Surprising!

How are u posting from the plane ?

BunfightBetty · 28/09/2025 23:37

No, I don't eat nuts on planes, quite consciously.

I'm actually a big fan of nuts, they're my go-to snack, I eat them daily and it does cause me a pang to be without them on a flight, as they're filling and nicely full of protein.

But really, the potential risk to other is just too great and it's what, a few hours on a plane without them? I can eat them once I'm off the flight and every other day, and there are plenty of other snacks I can take with me, so why would I put someone at risk just because I fancy them? Or I'm being bloody minded? I think it's' pretty selfish to do that, tbh.

notacooldad · 28/09/2025 23:37

I would eat nuts on a plane unless there was an announcement and would respect that.
I've only been on a plane where there been an announcement once and that was last year.

Saying that, I dont go out of my way to eat nuts but might have had them by default, maybe as an ingredient in something else

justanotherpassword · 28/09/2025 23:43

BusWankers · 28/09/2025 22:24

They wouldn't be banned, just a polite request to not eat them.

I've eaten peanut butter sandwiches in a "nut free" flight before. 🤷‍♀️

You’ve eaten a sandwich with nuts in it when the staff have said someone on the plane has a severe nut allergy?

Your username is quite appropriate for you if you take out the bus.

whynotwhatknot · 28/09/2025 23:44

youre supposed to let the airline knowbeforehand of any allergies-they then make an annoucnment

you dont sit there and ask people if its ok they sometimes serve them anyway

Greggsit · 28/09/2025 23:45

Do you live somewhere that there are regulary animals on flights? In the UK and flights in and out the only animals in cabins are professionally trained assistance dogs

That's not true. Small dogs and cats can be carried in hand luggage. Special pet carriers obviously, not just in a bag. I was in a flight to Denmark a couple of months ago that had three dogs on board, all travelling independently of each other.

zazazaaar · 28/09/2025 23:48

BusWankers · 28/09/2025 22:14

Yes. Have done and will continue to do so..

Even if your mate who you were travelling with had a nut allergy?

AutumnCosy2025 · 28/09/2025 23:50

BusWankers · 28/09/2025 22:24

They wouldn't be banned, just a polite request to not eat them.

I've eaten peanut butter sandwiches in a "nut free" flight before. 🤷‍♀️

Why?

what a nasty, inconsiderate thing to do!!

mumzof4x · 28/09/2025 23:51

@BusWankersyour behaviour would absolutely kill my child sitting on that plane .,,, why would you choose to do that exactly please ?

WeeGeeBored · 28/09/2025 23:51

PhilosophicalCheeseSandwich · 28/09/2025 22:14

Yes. I've been served a bowl of warm nuts on flights.

My mind went a bit old school Carry On films stupid for a minute there.

PurpleThistle7 · 28/09/2025 23:51

There are definitely regularly animals on flights. If they can fit in a specific sized under seat bag they can travel. Have been on multiple flights with animals within a few rows of me - I know as it triggers my asthma. On one horrible flight there was one next to me and I wasn’t able to move seats as it was a full flight.

AngryBookworm · 28/09/2025 23:52

It's a bit silly to expect people not to eat nuts on a plane 'in case' of an allergy - in fact if an announcement hasn't been made, you can be confident there isn't an allergy (much more so than on a train, for example). I'd be happy to refrain from whatever was needed (including dairy) if the person next to me had allergies, but it seems mad to assume they secretly have them.

That said, having read the comment above that Emirates don't make announcements like other airlines do, I would ask the person next to me if they had a nut allergy and if so, be careful about what I ordered.

CoffeeLipstickKeys · 28/09/2025 23:53

Purpleturtle45 · 28/09/2025 22:11

I thought it was widely understood that you don't eat nuts on a plane. The woman next to me just cracked a packet open!

Eat nuts on a plane? Yup
There isn’t a widely understood rule or expectation that one refrain from nut consumption. Don’t be making things up now
I totally understand the severity,speed,impact of allergies and if asked to refrain I would
However,i don’t routinely refrain from nuts on plane or train

Biskieboo · 28/09/2025 23:56

Ilovegolf · 28/09/2025 23:30

This. Pretty much every airline, if you are in Business of First, serve some sort of nuts. I fly a lot, this is literally every time. So if the recycling of air creating nut reactions and allergies in other people was a big issue, surely they wouldn’t do this?
If I get on a plane in economy, I wouldn’t even think about nut allergies. If there was an announcement then of course, I wouldn’t eat them, I don’t even like them much.

Indeed, if I was asked not to for the benefit of other passengers then of course I wouldn't eat nuts on a flight. However this thread does raise two questions in my mind -

  1. If this is such a common and significant risk then why do so many airlines serve nuts? Having to divert because of a medical emergency or even god forbid having a passenger die is (and I don't mean this flippantly), bad for business. If it's as common a risk as is being made out it would happen a lot and airlines would realise the folly of serving nuts...but they seem perfectly happy to dish them up.
  1. If somebody else eating nuts on a flight is a matter of life and death, then unless getting the flight is also a matter of life and death, why are you taking that risk? Yes you can get an announcement put out and hope everybody stringently follows it and that nobody inadvertently (or even, if they're an arsehole, deliberately), eats something with traces of nuts, but it seems a mad risk to take.
ThreeWordUsername · 28/09/2025 23:57

Neither I nor a loved one have a nut allergy but its common knowledge that they are not particularly uncommon and can be severe. For the duration of a flight I am, therefore, be quite capable of avoiding nuts. Why not? Have a bag of crisps instead FFS.

Flossflower · 29/09/2025 00:01

I have been served packets of peanuts on Air Malaysia (BC) this year during a few internal flights in Malaysia. I flew out with another airline. I don’t think it is a good idea. I was once on a flight from the UK and there was an announcement that someone had a nut allergy and nuts were not to be opened/consumed on the flight. Two very selfish people, in front of me, asked the stewardess where the people were as they planned to eat a large toblerone between them. The stewardess said the person was very close and the two people were not happy.

NoSoapJustUseShowerGel · 29/09/2025 00:02

LaurieFairyCake · 28/09/2025 22:16

Yes, unless told not to. I eat nuts constantly, in public all the time.

Eating nuts “in public” is very different to eating them on an aeroplane, which is an enclosed space where you can’t just rush to the nearest hospital if someone nearby suffers a severe reaction.

LancashireButterPie · 29/09/2025 00:06

thenightsky · 28/09/2025 22:15

Yes. But I only once was on a flight where we were asked not to due another passenger's allergy. Obviously we all complied.

Well you say obviously! There was an almighty tow on a flight I was on recently from Madeira to UK. Pilot informed us that there was a child on board with a serious nut allergy. Then a couple opposite us shrugged and opened snickers bars! They were nearly lynched but kept exclaiming "it's not our problem".
There are some hideous people about.

R0ckandHardPlace · 29/09/2025 00:11

AngryBookworm · 28/09/2025 23:52

It's a bit silly to expect people not to eat nuts on a plane 'in case' of an allergy - in fact if an announcement hasn't been made, you can be confident there isn't an allergy (much more so than on a train, for example). I'd be happy to refrain from whatever was needed (including dairy) if the person next to me had allergies, but it seems mad to assume they secretly have them.

That said, having read the comment above that Emirates don't make announcements like other airlines do, I would ask the person next to me if they had a nut allergy and if so, be careful about what I ordered.

Given that peanut/tree nut allergies affect 2-3% of the population now, the chances are that there will always be someone with an allergy on every flight. Statistically there would be between 9 and 14 nut allergic passengers on a full 747.

Pryceosh1987 · 29/09/2025 00:12

I see nothing wrong with eating nuts on a plane.

ThreeWordUsername · 29/09/2025 00:12

LancashireButterPie · 29/09/2025 00:06

Well you say obviously! There was an almighty tow on a flight I was on recently from Madeira to UK. Pilot informed us that there was a child on board with a serious nut allergy. Then a couple opposite us shrugged and opened snickers bars! They were nearly lynched but kept exclaiming "it's not our problem".
There are some hideous people about.

What absolute shits. Nobody is asking them to never eat nuts again, just for a flight. WTF is wrong with people?

alfonzi · 29/09/2025 00:14

Edited: posted in wrong thread!

34ransum · 29/09/2025 00:15

If no announcements were made, yes.

My son has life threatening allergies to milk, nuts, sesame, and kiwi.

Milk is actually the most common cause of anaphylactic deaths in the under 18s.

On his first flight they made the "no nuts" announcement and the lady beside us was drinking a hot latte (steaming dairy milk) and eating hummus (sesame galore).

I don't even bother asking them to say anything about his nut allergy anymore. We wipe surfaces down and bring our own food.

The whole "airborne" allergy thing is a myth, unless the food is heated.

RozGruber · 29/09/2025 00:17

Purpleturtle45 · 28/09/2025 22:54

Interesting points of view, I'm shocked at how many airlines serve nuts when there are no many alternatives.

My son doesn't have an allergy but one if my nieces does so I am quite vigilant so it's on my radar (pardon the pun 🤣).

I guess all you can control is what you do and I personally wouldn't see any reason why I would need to eat nuts on a plane so I wouldn't bother.

Just because you can’t see any reason why you would do something doesn’t mean that other people are obligated to avoid it. I travel with my kids quite a bit and I always carry a bag of nuts. How many other tasty, filling, nutritious, widely available snacks are a good source of protein, can be (relatively) inexpensively packed from home, and do not leak, make a mess, need refrigeration, or have a strong odor? None that my fussy eaters will touch! Of course if we are told that someone on board has a severe allergy we wouldn’t eat them but barring that I see no reason to avoid nuts or ask permission to eat them.

If it helps, OP, I did a google search and found exactly zero credible reports of any in-flight fatalities or serious injuries attributable to someone in a neighboring seat eating nuts. Considering that a nuts are sold in most if not all major airports, served on board by many airlines, and carried on by countless passengers every day, I think you can probably relax on this one.

Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice · 29/09/2025 00:19

Purpleturtle45 · 28/09/2025 22:54

Interesting points of view, I'm shocked at how many airlines serve nuts when there are no many alternatives.

My son doesn't have an allergy but one if my nieces does so I am quite vigilant so it's on my radar (pardon the pun 🤣).

I guess all you can control is what you do and I personally wouldn't see any reason why I would need to eat nuts on a plane so I wouldn't bother.

Would you have milk in your tea on an aeroplane? Or is it just the nut allergy people you are vigilant about?