Bringing sandwiches onto plane a no-no?

[CarolA]

SW serves peanuts on the plane. In all the many years I have flown I have never heard of a peanut warning on a plane. Sorry but that isn't going to happen!

I am pretty sure it does happen. I have read a post on this board from a woman who spoke with SW regarding her child's peanut allergy. SW told her they would refrain from serving peanuts and would make the announcement. This particular mother felt that was NOT enough (As I recall she wanted SW's assurance that NO peanuts had been served all day on the plane and their gurantee that no one on the plane would eat a Snickers bar. SW of course could not meet those requirments so I guess she drove)

 

[pxlbarrel]

I agree, I can't recall ever hearing this announcment, but I do know that the airlines will do it upon request.

For my flight to MCO last December on West Jet, they actually did do an announcement! First time I'd ever heard it. They told everybody in the departure lounge that there was a passenger with a severe peanut allergy and if you had any peanut products to consume them before you boarded the plane and for the safety of the passenger to refrain from consuming them during the flight. That was about an hour before the scheduled departure time. (Of course, our flight then got delayed by a snow storm so 3 hours later, if the peanuts hadn't been eaten then, they were sure gone by the time we took off. )

 

[Deb T.]

I believe that people with peanut (and other allergies) are usually very proactive in protecting themselves from reactions. Therefore, I really think a pb&j sandwich would be fine to take on a flight.

Last year, I took my niece and nephew to WDW. Our nephew was nine years old and is severely allergic to peanuts. I had this noted on our reservation with Delta and also at Disney's Old Key West Resort.

Delta offered us three options: make the banned-peanut announcement and only serve pretzels on board, serve peanuts to everyone except those seated within two rows of us, or serve everyone but us peanuts. We opted for the last choice because I didn't want to inconvenience anyone else and felt fairly confident that no one would throw a peanut our way. We were also allowed to pre-board so I could wipe down everything that he would come in contact with. The flight attendant gave us blankets that were still sealed in plastic, which I covered his seat with as an added barrier. He also wore clothing that covered everything except his neck, head, and hands as another precaution.

At the hotel, housekeeping had done a "VIP Cleaning" where they wiped down all surfaces, did a thorough vacuuming, and changed all bedding, including bedspreads. Fortunately, we had no allergy problems the entire week we were down there.

 

[jengelbrecht]

Thank you twinklebug, for trying to save my thread! I got the answer I was hoping for, thanks to everyone who answered my question.
Carry on, peanut debaters...
That's why I love this board. You learn all kinds of things!

 

[gigi1313]

truly not looking to debate, but hope the info i share might educate...

my son is peanut/tree nut allergic... swa has a place on their online booking form for disabilities and it's one of the ones listed... they have a policy in place and it's right on their website... they will and have made announcements asking passengers to refrain from consuming peanut products and they do not serve peanuts on our flights (it's not a concern that someone will throw a nut our way, but rather inhaling the nut dust that could result in a reaction... and for ds the reaction is to go anaphylactic, giving us a very small window of time between the onset of the reaction, the administering of benadryl, and the administration of the epi-pen, followed by a visit to the ER, which if mid-flight would mean an emergency landing! talk about inconvenient!)

american is also very pro-active w/nut allergies... and were quite accomodating...

both airlines allow us to pre-board and do our own "VIP cleaning" and wipe down ds' entire area w/clorox wipes (hoping no one on board is allergic to clorox)... although swa urges peanut allergic passengers to fly first thing in the morning after the plane has received a thorough overnight cleaning (so we take 6:30-7am flights)...

as far as encountering a similar situation when flying, the chances of a plane headed to/from orlando is more likely to have peanut allergic passengers in my opinion because the majority of peanut allergic people are children and well, an orlando-bound flight is more likely to have a higher number of children than other destinations...

just my personal $.02 on the subject... hope no one is offended as that is not my intent...

 

[jengelbrecht]

I'm sure no one is offended, food allergies can be a very real problem for some, so this is valuable information folks are offering.
This important allergy topic does deserve it's own thread. Anyone interested in learning about such allergies would not know to look under a thread about bringing sandwiches on a plane.
I'm very fortunate in that no one in my family has food allergies. I can see that it can be a problem just getting through a normal day at home, but it must be especially difficult when traveling and dining out.

 

[bavaria]

May I suggest the ultimate in sandwich options?

The Nutella sandwich..... how bavaria starts every day! (and has since a tiny tot, along with millions of other Germans and Italians)

My local Italian coffee bar sells Nutella sandwiches for $6 a pop - I didn't realize that they were such a luxury item....Why not have them as a special holiday treat and that way you won't need to worry about refridgeration/peanuts/condiments, etc.....

 

[Pinnie]

Carol, thank you for the clarification. My career involves flying an average of almost 85,000 miles a year worldwide for work (and add in another 7,000 or so for vacations with my family) . Over the course of the last decade and a half, I have never once heard any announcement on any flight that peanut products were not being allowed because someone on board had an allergy, which stands as exhibit A of just how rare the incidence of true peanut allergies is (per the best research, at most about 1% of the population - and only some percentage of that group regularly fly, so the true incidence of "peanut allergy" airline passengers is likely somewhere in the .0X% --or less -- area).

Or put another way, the likelihood of a given traveller to Orlando running into this "ban" on a given flight is very, very, very low.

I was on a SWA flight today from MDW to DTW and the FAs announced that NO peanuts would be served on our flight due to a couple of pax with peanut allergies. One of the pax was a tad upset because her Purell was taken away at the TSA checkpoint and she couldn't wipe down the tray table to remove any peanut resdue.

pinnie

 

[KJMAX1]

My best friend has a daughter who is so allergic to peanuts because she has had three reactions and she is only 6, that the hospital told her that the Epipen will NOT work the next time she has a reaction. She is so allergic that just touching a chair someone has touched with peanut residue, she breaks out in welts all over. She had to fly to her grandmother's funeral this past year, and she was really worried about her DDs condition. She called SWA ahead of time, and they noted it on their reservation, announced it to the passengers, and again when on the plane. They did the same thing others have said and helped them clean their area, gave fresh blankets, and made sure to only give pretzels. However, you have to check those too because some are made in a factory with peanuts!

 

[ducklite]

Guy next to me on the flight last night had what looked to be a really tasty wrap.

My son carried on a bag of dried fruit--which certainly has the consistency of many of the banned items, it went through x-ray and they didn't blink.

Food is still allowed.

 

[gigi1313]

I'm sure no one is offended, food allergies can be a very real problem for some, so this is valuable information folks are offering.
This important allergy topic does deserve it's own thread. Anyone interested in learning about such allergies would not know to look under a thread about bringing sandwiches on a plane.
I'm very fortunate in that no one in my family has food allergies. I can see that it can be a problem just getting through a normal day at home, but it must be especially difficult when traveling and dining out.

thanks for not being offended... i kinda like tossing this info into this thread 'cause here it helped those that were unaware to become aware and wouldn't have read a thread solely about nut allergies...

bavaria, does NUTella not have NUTS in it? (and yes, it's great stuff... i remember from my long ago nut eating days)

 

[ducklite]

For my flight to MCO last December on West Jet, they actually did do an announcement! First time I'd ever heard it. They told everybody in the departure lounge that there was a passenger with a severe peanut allergy and if you had any peanut products to consume them before you boarded the plane and for the safety of the passenger to refrain from consuming them during the flight. That was about an hour before the scheduled departure time. (Of course, our flight then got delayed by a snow storm so 3 hours later, if the peanuts hadn't been eaten then, they were sure gone by the time we took off. )

I have no problem with this type of situation, where an announcement is made well in advance in the departure area so passengers can either consume their meals early or save them for later and purchase other food to eat on the plane.

What I do not agree with is getting on the plane and then being told so you have no option to make alternate arrangements.

Anne

 

[FlaNative]

if you are planning to bring sandwiches aboard a plane, you might be wise to avoid bringing pb&j because

Because you might be a terrorist!

Don't let it affect your food choice, but don't be surprised if you get an extra search. Peanut butter has exactly the same density as plastic explosive and shows up on the xray that way. Little trivia fact you did not want to know, huh? Just don't pack your sandwiches next to anything with batteries or wires. . .

 

[44sun]

I take mini-bagels or homemade banana bread smeared with cream cheese - these freeze well. We pack this with fruit to munch on. Turkey pepperoni and cheese sticks are also good choices as they are more flexible when it comes to temperatures. Pack some crackers & you've got a healthy meal! Yum!

 

[Lisa_Belle]

I have no problem with this type of situation, where an announcement is made well in advance in the departure area so passengers can either consume their meals early or save them for later and purchase other food to eat on the plane.

What I do not agree with is getting on the plane and then being told so you have no option to make alternate arrangements.

Anne

I agree with Anne. I'm planning on packing some PB&Js for our trip because our layover time isn't long enough to grab a snack. And I don't want to pack anything that might spoil. I also have picky-eater DD4 to contend with. I have no problems tossing my sandwiches if I have enough notice to get something else beforehand.

I don't want to stir trouble, but am curious. When did people start getting peanut allergies? I know when I was in school every third kid (at least) ate PB&J every day. And no telling how many peanut snacks were packed in the other two-thirds. I had never even heard of peanut allergies until my DD was born. Why is it so common now?

 

[bavaria]

bavaria, does NUTella not have NUTS in it?

Yes, it has hazelnuts. It's a hazelnut cream made by Ferrero, similar stuff like inside Ferrero Rocher. I was offering it as a sandwich alternative to turkey etc, not as a peanut alternative.

With sliced bananas it makes a good kids lunch. And it has fewer calories than peanut butter in case anyone is wondering (and remember, with peanut butter most ppl also add jam or jelly on top)

 

[gigi1313]

I don't want to stir trouble, but am curious. When did people start getting peanut allergies? I know when I was in school every third kid (at least) ate PB&J every day. And no telling how many peanut snacks were packed in the other two-thirds. I had never even heard of peanut allergies until my DD was born. Why is it so common now?

i wish i knew the answer to this question... ds' allergy just "appeared" at age 7! he ate pb&j all the time before then... apparently certain allergies are cumulative in that they build up inside a person 'til one day "POP" you have an allergic reaction (and in ds' case, it was a near-fatal allergic reaction)... who knew?

i've done some research and there are many theories... one of which is oils and lotions used on babies... since we didn't use oils and lotions, i don't think it applies to ds... another is that there's a link to vaccinations... similar to the vaccination/autism link that has been studied in recent years...

it's really a pita, but fortunately the FDA has become very pro-active and product labelling has become much better... and the schools often offer nut-free environments (i.e. certain tables in the cafeteria)... and airlines have policies and/or are willing to cater to it... which is great for us 'cause otherwise we'd be very restricted!

 

[pxlbarrel]

Actually, not to be an alarmist but the pb&j sandwich as opposed to one of meat or solid cheese may not be allowed. My brother saw some news footage where even jam packets were not allowed on board...you know...those tiny jams you get when you do takeout or something.

Mind you, I don't know if they're going to ask everybody what their sandwich is made out of...

 

[beachblanket]

I don't want to stir trouble, but am curious. When did people start getting peanut allergies? I know when I was in school every third kid (at least) ate PB&J every day. And no telling how many peanut snacks were packed in the other two-thirds. I had never even heard of peanut allergies until my DD was born. Why is it so common now?

Any allergy at the 1% incidence level (which is where peanut allergies are) is not "common."

It just seems so because the small universe of parents with affected children can be -- understandably -- quite vociferious about the risks it presents, and the fact it -- unlike many other allergies --- often forces blanket bans in public facilities like schools. That and the "passion" of the families affected draw an almost inordinate amount of attention to what is by any objective standard a niche allergy - and one which in many cases is not objectively diagnosed by a licensed physcian: our pediatrician has mentioned to us how often he deals with parents who state their child has a peanut allergy, but subsequently admit they have never had a controlled blood test done -- which is the only way to confirm the allergy exists (by vrtue of the presence of specific levels of antibodies).

 

[bavaria]

Actually, not to be an alarmist but the pb&j sandwich as opposed to one of meat or solid cheese may not be allowed. My brother saw some news footage where even jam packets were not allowed on board...you know...those tiny jams you get when you do takeout or something.

Mind you, I don't know if they're going to ask everybody what their sandwich is made out of...

Jam spread on bread before security is perfectly fine - ie the sandwich you make and home and bring on board.

Jam in a packet, along with other condiments, is being denied. I don't know how many people actually brng the jam and peanut butter and bread and then construct the sandwich on the plane.

Most airlines do have a buy on board program, too. The United 'right bite' is a hot seller at $5 - includes pita chips, a healthier version of Ritz crackers, a jar of hummus, a mini Toblerone bar, a can of tuna, a piece of cheese. You could easily feed two people on one box.