Airlines say "nuts" to allergy sufferers
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,937
Likes: 28
From: UK/OZ
Airlines say "nuts" to allergy sufferers
Airlines leave it to pilots to take the flack, when severe allergy sufferers are deemed a risk.
Why can't there be a policy on the matter?
Airlines allow morbidly obese and folk with other medical conditions onboard.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/we...-airlines.html
Why can't there be a policy on the matter?
Airlines allow morbidly obese and folk with other medical conditions onboard.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/we...-airlines.html
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 3,423
Likes: 1
From: world
Interesting. On my last DELTA flight from AMS to SEA a couple of months ago there was a cabin PA announcement prior to departure that in view of a passenger's severe nut allergy, no nuts would be served on the flight at all. Fair enough I thought.
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 3,423
Likes: 1
From: world
If you have a nut allergy, don't eat nuts - or am I oversimplifying?
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 316
Likes: 2
From: Doncaster
Nuts seem to invoke severe reactions in some people, both medical and opinion. If someone just comes out with a rash if they eat them the fuss seem's a bit much - but others can have a far more severe reaction, and taking measures is called for...
I say this after Nutgate last year. A row between PTA mothers as to whether Peanut flavoured Cornetto's could be sold at a school event, as one boy had a nut allergy of the minor kind..
I say this after Nutgate last year. A row between PTA mothers as to whether Peanut flavoured Cornetto's could be sold at a school event, as one boy had a nut allergy of the minor kind..
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 29
From: Bolton ENGLAND
If you have a nut allergy, don't eat nuts - or am I oversimplifying?
Not at all, just requires the application of common sense and some caution. Seems much of the human race is now deemed incapable of using these two commodities
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 0
Likes: 0
From: Soon to be out of the EU.
I sympathise with those who genuinely have a severe nut allergy which can be triggered by airborne particulates.
It is much more common now. Barely a week goes by now without at least one flight being nut free.
I side with the airlines. Most make it clear that they cannot guarantee a nut free environment. Airlines can ask people to stop eating nuts but what about the previous 600 people who had been on that aircraft and now on sector 4 who can say there are no traces of nuts in the furnishings? What about the 200 passengers who purchased nut products on the aircraft? Who can guarantee that the guy next to you didn't just devour a large bag of peanut M&Ms just prior to boarding. What of those who don't speak the language in which the 'no peanuts' PA was made? If the risk is so severe, then you shouldn't be travelling.
I don't mean to sound unsympathetic. But if it's so bad, wear a surgical mask and gloves. I see plenty of people these days doing that. It just another example of the majority having to change their way to accommodate the tiny minority. An 'allergy' is almos a badge of honour it would seem to generation snowflake. I can see airlines removing and banning all nut products as a result of today's litigious society.
It is much more common now. Barely a week goes by now without at least one flight being nut free.
I side with the airlines. Most make it clear that they cannot guarantee a nut free environment. Airlines can ask people to stop eating nuts but what about the previous 600 people who had been on that aircraft and now on sector 4 who can say there are no traces of nuts in the furnishings? What about the 200 passengers who purchased nut products on the aircraft? Who can guarantee that the guy next to you didn't just devour a large bag of peanut M&Ms just prior to boarding. What of those who don't speak the language in which the 'no peanuts' PA was made? If the risk is so severe, then you shouldn't be travelling.
I don't mean to sound unsympathetic. But if it's so bad, wear a surgical mask and gloves. I see plenty of people these days doing that. It just another example of the majority having to change their way to accommodate the tiny minority. An 'allergy' is almos a badge of honour it would seem to generation snowflake. I can see airlines removing and banning all nut products as a result of today's litigious society.
Paxing All Over The World
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 10,842
Likes: 328
From: Hertfordshire, UK.
I have a friend so sensitive to sesame seeds that a single one out of place (in her food) causes illness. Two or three seeds and she has anaphylaxis. No one wants that in their cabin.
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 0
Likes: 0
From: Soon to be out of the EU.
Nobody can guarantee it won't happen. Airlines can't provide an allergen free cabin. In all my years of flying I've not seen ONE person come on with an allergy wearing a surgical mask. If a tiny airborne partical can cause harm then why do we never see them wearing masks?
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 616
Likes: 0
From: Tamworth, UK / Nairobi, Kenya
I wonder if there's a link between law suits and people having told the airline in advance that they have an allergy... (I'm cynical) ... so the airline(s) have decided to remove anyone who gives the airline a "warning".
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
From: Australia
This might explain why Scoot was more inquisitive about my son's allergy recently. In the past, when I informed the FA about the epi-pen I am carrying (I seem to recall that it is required under the terms and conditions), the matter has ended there every time. This year, on two trips, the FA came back with a senior FA to quiz me about the allergy.
In my specific case, there is no threat to life as my son has not ever had an anaphylactic reaction even if he were to consume the items. The epi-pen was prescribed merely as a precautionary measure. If we could be removed from the plane because of this, perhaps I should reconsider informing the FAs in future.
Also, to crewmeal, The Peanut Institute - Allergy says
So you can still enjoy the smell of cashews. And perhaps that is why HM, we do not see them wearing masks. Unless you are crushing nuts or opening a packet of crushed nuts, I doubt there is enough airborne particles to trigger any but the most severely sensitive person (but I am not a doctor, do not take medical advice from random strangers on the internet).
In my specific case, there is no threat to life as my son has not ever had an anaphylactic reaction even if he were to consume the items. The epi-pen was prescribed merely as a precautionary measure. If we could be removed from the plane because of this, perhaps I should reconsider informing the FAs in future.
Also, to crewmeal, The Peanut Institute - Allergy says
Smelling the aroma of peanuts is not the same as inhaling peanut particles that could potentially contain the allergenic protein. The aroma of peanuts comes from different compounds that cannot cause an allergic reaction.
In one controlled study that looked at this, 30 children with significant peanut allergy were exposed to peanut butter, which was either pressed on the skin for one minute, or the aroma was inhaled. Reddening or flaring of the skin occurred in about one third of the children, but none of the children in the study experienced a reaction either in their lungs or throughout their bodies!
In one controlled study that looked at this, 30 children with significant peanut allergy were exposed to peanut butter, which was either pressed on the skin for one minute, or the aroma was inhaled. Reddening or flaring of the skin occurred in about one third of the children, but none of the children in the study experienced a reaction either in their lungs or throughout their bodies!