Can I bring peanut butter sandwiches on the airplane?

[Passions71203]

I don't want to sound mean but a person who's allergies are so severe that they can't be within 100 feet of a nut product really can't fly. There isn't anyway to ensure the plan was adequately cleaned before the flight and there really isn't any way to guarantee a passenger won't be consuming a product containing nuts.

I agree with you 100%

 

[Amyshubby]

I have a child that is a VERY picky eater (and he's sitting with me now and asked me to put in the smiley face) . Basically, it's pancakes, chicken nuggets, and peanut butter. A LOT of peanut butter. It's not allowed at his daycare, so we went to Trader Joe's and bought Soy Butter. He loved it! It looks, tastes and smells like peanut butter but is entirely peabnut free. They allow it at the daycare (obviously). Last time we flew, we made a sandwich with it out of courtesy for others around us and someone actually told us they were allergic when they saw it, then thanked us when we told them what it was.

 

[dawnball]

Sure, no one will probably tell you you can't do this, but out of consideration for the health of those who may be allergic, please bring something that does not potentially cause life-threatening reactions in others.

Except that wheat, eggs, soy and milk are as likely to cause anaphylaxis. And even if you're trying to avoid large amounts of likely allergens (not worrying about trace/equipment/derivitives), it's hard to find foods that most people eat which are free of peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, eggs, soy and milk. And it's as common to be just as sensitive (contact/oils/aerosolized particles) to other allergens as it is to peanuts.

Heck, I know someone who has life-threatening reactions to celery, of all things. Peanut butter isn't a typical airline food for me, but I have been known to grab reeses cups or peanut m&ms at the airline gift shop because it was the only thing I could find in the airport that was safe for me (or my DD) to eat and we were out of food. Obviously if someone said to me that they were allergic or there was an announcement, we'd do without - but it isn't a reasonable accommodation to avoid taking all of the most likely allergens on a plane on every occasion.

 

[Traveliz]

This whole allergy thing is so hard - and I have them - not to peanuts but I am deathly allergic to cats - it NEVER occured to me that there would be one on board a plane. I lived through it but kept my shirt over my nose most of the time (wonder if that works?) and now I look all around when I board a plane for cats.

Liz

 

[NotUrsula]

If you are allergic to cats or dogs, you need to say so when you make your reservation. IF no one has booked the flight already with such an animal, then no one will be allowed to, and if someone already has, you'll be warned to take another flight.

FTR, SWA does not allow cats on board. They only allow dogs that are certified service animals.

 

[TDC Nala]

If they have a peanut allergy on the plane they will announce and you'd have to throw the sandwiches out.

SWA serves peanuts on every flight unless they are forewarned about a peanut allergic passenger. On my last flight from Vegas a previous passenger had dropped peanuts all over the floor in the seat I chose. Should they stop just in case? What's the logic of telling people they can't carry peanuts anywhere because someone somewhere might be allergic?

I'd be more concerned about getting the sandwiches through security. Is peanut butter considered liquid or gel? They don't like you bringing through packages of ketchup, things like that, unless you put them in your inflight baggie (assuming they spot them). I would guess they'd allow a sandwich but maybe not a jar of peanut butter.

My nephew's allergic to peanuts (not airborne, so he can be around peanuts) and he likes soy butter.

 

[madge]

Every time I fly SWA they give out peanuts

We've been on flights (SWA) with peanuts, but we've been on just as many peanut-free flights. I think peanut-free flights are requested?

 

[disneynutt1225]

I don't want to sound mean but a person who's allergies are so severe that they can't be within 100 feet of a nut product really can't fly. There isn't anyway to ensure the plan was adequately cleaned before the flight and there really isn't any way to guarantee a passenger won't be consuming a product containing nuts.

Said more eloquently than I could have said it. I wholeheartedly agree with you!

 

[Traveliz]

If you are allergic to cats or dogs, you need to say so when you make your reservation. IF no one has booked the flight already with such an animal, then no one will be allowed to, and if someone already has, you'll be warned to take another flight.

FTR, SWA does not allow cats on board. They only allow dogs that are certified service animals.

I had no idea- thanks so much -- you learn something new everyday!

Liz

 

[NotUrsula]

... please, no gumbo with sausage and sauerkraut on board

OK, Bavaria, I'll bite -- where can you buy gumbo with sauerkraut in it, and what kind of cretin would actually eat such a thing? Quelle horreur!

Unfortunately, proper gumbo with filé can cause intestinal gas, so delicious though it is, I generally don't eat it right before I get on a plane.

 

[bavaria]

MSY.... still a rather quiet airport post-Katrina, but they do serve gumbo and sauerkraut near the UA gates....

http://www.disboards.com/archive/index.php/t-1418772.html

 

[TAKitty]

As the parent of a peanut-allergic child, I would ask the OP to please consider not bringing a PB sandwich on the plane. My DD is alright being around PB, but can't eat it, so she'd be ok (for now; there's every chance her allergy will worsen as she ages). But there are others with MUCH more severe allergies who are MUCH more sensitive to it being within 100 feet of them. Also consider that the air in a pressurized plane is recirculated throughout the flight.

If you must bring a sandwich, please bring one with something in it to which a large percentage of the population is not allergic.

Thanks.

Maybe this has been posted, but I only read up to post 9. When we were last on SouthWest in August we were all given peanuts in a bag by SW.

 

[cey]

As a person with food allergies, shellfish not peanut, it just seems to me to be easier to make a peanut free snack or sandwich and then you don't have to worry about discarding it and dealing with finding a last minute substitution. As for people with airborne allergies not being allowed to fly, I would rather not bring any food on board rather than deny a child or adult the chance to visit WDW!

 

[antree]

We fly SW and my son has a Peanut/Tree Nut Allergy. I let them know and they serve a non peanut-snack, they never announced about the allergy. I didn't think about the fact they didn't make an announcement, since they were serving peanut free food. My son does sneeze the whole time he is in a room with open peanuts and goes into anaphylaxis shocked when eaten.
Before my son was born, I would bring a ham and cheese sandwich on the plane with us for my DD. Now I do that for my son too.

You can bring a P&B sandwich on board, but since it was asked the allergy issue will come up.

I am not going to tell you what to do but ask you if your flight isn't serving peanuts ask why and if there is an allergy then please reconsider eating that sandwich.

As far as peanuts shells being left on the floor or seat. We always took the first flight out and pre-boarded to make sure the area is safe. I have heard of Peanut allergy people leaving the flight and taking another because of dirty planes.


As if in my sitution, the announcement was never made so if you ate peanuts in any form, you then truly didn't know. [But remember peanuts were not served, when everyone knows peanuts are served on SW.] But if the announce was made and you did it, that is the problem. This allergy is becoming more volcal. Everyone now a days know if there is no peanuts around there has to be a reason. So Please just ask.

 

[Hannathy]

There are very, very few people that my child eating a peanut butter sandwich 20 rows away would hurt. In fact it is questionable if any actually exist at that level.I can understand about the peanuts and peanut dust but not the peanut butter sandwich. And if your child would die if someone 20 rows away would eat a sandwich then others are correct, it is to dangerous to fly or be anywhere in public.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I am not going to tell you what to do but ask you if your flight isn't serving peanuts ask why and if there is an allergy then please reconsider eating that sandwich. I wouldn't want to watch someone get sick or worst yet die, because of something I did.



And I don't understand why the OP would suggest us not flying. If I knew that something I was doing was going to actually hurt someone, I WOULD NEVER DO IT. This has nothing to do with my son and his allergy. I would never Knowingly hurt someone. Why on Earth would anyone what to. If you knew about the allergy or anything, will it KILL you not to do it for a short period of time?

First of all I would never think to ask why they weren't serving peanuts. I would just assume they were serving a different snack that day. Unless they made an announcement it woul dnever cross my mind to assume that someone on the plane had an allergy.

No one said they would knowingly hurt someone. SWA regularly serves peanuts. Just because you request a peanut free flight doesn't mean there wouldn't be residu left from the dozens of flights before yours. If my child was deathly allergic I would drive.

 

[bavaria]

and what about someone eating a granola bar or chocolate bar in the gate area?

The fact is that we cannot control others - only ourselves. There was a thread on the cruise boards a while back where the poster was going to ask her table mates not to eat a certain dessert.

A quick search of airline sites shows that 'reasonable accomodation' for US carriers is to establish a zone of three rows ahead and three rows behind as peanut free. Non-US carriers generally place the responsibility on the traveller, as this quote from DragonAir shows:

Dragonair recognizes that some passengers may have allergic reactions to peanuts which can be life threatening. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee a peanut-free environment if these passengers choose to fly with us and or visit our lounge prior to your journey.


Peanut-free meals
We cannot guarantee against accidental cross-contamination of peanut products within the network flight kitchens during catering production, as peanut-based ingredients, peanut oil and non-specified peanut containing trace element are widely used throughout Asia Pacific.


Peanut-free cabin
We cannot guarantee a peanut free aircraft cabin as we cannot stop all passengers from bringing their own peanut products onboard or insist that they do not open or eat them. Further, residual peanut products may be left in aisles, common areas or on seats from one flight to the next.

For practical reasons Dragonair regrets that it is unable to provide completely peanut-free meals or give an absolute guarantee to provide a peanut free environment onboard our aircraft. We are also unable to modify the cabin environment due to individual passenger request. We encourage passengers to consider the possibility of exposure when flying especially if they accept in-flight snack or meal services.

 

[komondorok]

There are very, very few people that my child eating a peanut butter sandwich 20 rows away would hurt. In fact it is questionable if any actually exist at that level.I can understand about the peanuts and peanut dust but not the peanut butter sandwich. And if your child would die if someone 20 rows away would eat a sandwich then others are correct, it is to dangerous to fly or be anywhere in public.

I know of a child, now a young adult that was that allergic. Peanut dust from the front of the plane could kill her in the back of the plane. And it was confirmed by the Jewish Hospital in Denver, the leading hospital in the country in regards to peanut allergies. They said it was the worst case of peanut allergy they had ever seen, and they see most of the worst of the worst.

That said, they managed to fly everywhere. They had their preferred airlines that would accomodate them. But they were reasonable too.

They always called weeks in advance. The plane did not serve peanuts. They had their epi-pens. But it was the dust that could kill their daughter. So, while bags of peanuts could cause her death, sandwiches and granola bars, etc probably wouldn't unless they were in the same row or the ones right in front or right in back.

So, they did make an announcement not to open bags of peanuts. Anything where peanuts were in them, but coated with something to keep the dust down, would not kill her 20 rows away.

They flew on average of 4x per year, many times cross country and with that one accomodation - no bags of peanuts, they never, ever had to use the epi-pens.

This was a little girl who was deemed to have one of the worst peanut allergies in the country. Yet she managed to fly safely with just one very little accomodation. The parents never minded peanut butter sandwiches - unless it was in the row with her. They didn't mind granola bars - unless in the row with her. They didn't mind peanut m&m's as the chocolate kept the dust down and wouldn't hit the air recirculation - unless they were being eaten in the row right in front or right behind her. They never, ever thought to inconvenience a whole plane. They asked for reasonable accomodations. No open bags of peanuts and no peanut products in the aisles directly surrounding them.

FWIW - they were a family of 5, so they would always buy all 6 seats across (in a 3x3 plane) to make sure they weren't asking some stranger to make accomodations.

This daughter just graduated from college and has learned how to manage her allergy herself. She still flies coast to coast and to Europe several times a year without any problems.

Edited to add: The mom also told me that it was the actual opening of the bag of peanuts that would be harmful to her daughter. The force of the opening of the bag released the settled dust into the ventilation system that would then be deadly to her. Peanuts lying around, unless they were being crushed by feet, wouldn't be releasing harmful dust into the air. Anyway, her requests always included the plane not serve peanuts the entire day, so they never had to worry about a previous flight leaving peanuts around. And this from a mother whose daughter would die from the minutest particle of peanut dust in the air.

 

[HookdonWDW]

While I sympathize with those who have peanut allergies, I must say that I think that this entire matter has gotten WAY overblown. Peanut allergies didn't suddenly spring up overnight. People have had these allergies for centuries.

I'm in my 40's, and I've had allergies all of my life... and not just one or two allergies - I'm one of those who has lots of food and environmental allergies, with a couple of lesser medicinal allergies thrown in. I scratch test at a "10+" level for many different items, and although I've been through allergy shots a few times (every decade or so, some allergist will insist that the shots have gotten better), I have to discontinue quickly because I have major reactions on just the baby dose chart - and that's with only a fraction of my allergens being treated.

I'm NOT allergic to peanuts, but I am allergic to tree nuts. Those of you with peanut allergies have made my life more miserable, lol. Suddenly I have to make sure that someone isn't trying to feed us soybutter or almond butter under the guise of peanut butter (I'm anaphylactically allergic to both).

If I requested that no one on a plane be allowed to have my major triggers, that would mean that no one would have tree nuts (especially almonds and pecans), carrots, soy, cats (or remnant cat hairs), smoke (or smoke residue on their clothing), strawberries or raw apples. All of these things can cause me to have a major reaction/ full blown asthma attack. It would make my life simpler and less complicated, but quite frankly, I don't feel that I should expect the rest of the world to compensate for my problems. So when I fly/travel (which I do regularly), I explain to the hotels what I need done to my room to make it liveable, and I take extra meds for a couple of days before a flight and bring rescue meds with me. Usually I'm fine. Occassionally, I'll have to use my meds and I'll feel like crud for a couple of days. But that's the way life is. All of us have challenges that we have to face. We do the best we can and move on. But IMHO, it makes no sense to expect the rest of the world to change to accomodate your medical issues.

I'm so glad that my parents taught me to cope in the world around me, and live as normal a life as possible with my allergies instead of expecting everyone around me to accomodate my differences. Also, there are many studies that show that completely isolating yourself from any of your possible allergens may not be a good idea - it increases sensitivity, and can cause bigger reactions when you become exposed.

So personally, I agree with PP who stated that if your allergies are so bad you think that the entire plane shouldn't have peanuts, you shouldn't really be on the flight in the first place. There's just no way to insure that the plane is truly allergen free. The same thing goes for the rides at WDW. How do you REALLY ensure that the child before yours didn't smear peanut butter residue on the ride handle/controls? Do you ban peanut butter from the parks and have everyone sanitize their hands and clothing before being allowed in? I'm truly not trying to be facetious. I just think that this entire issue has lost perspective in this PC age.

 

[tiki23]

This allergy is becoming more volcal. Everyone now a days know if there is no peanuts around there has to be a reason.

I beg to differ; unless a person has had children in school during the last 10-15 years, or works with children in some capacity, they may know very little of this allergy. I have 3 kids - 17, 16 and 14 - and wasn't really aware of the restrictions peanut allergies have caused until I started hanging out on the Dis board! I asked my kids about it because I'd never received any notes regarding peanut allergy from any of the 6 schools they have collectively attended. They just shrugged and said they had "peanut-free" tables in the classroom and cafeteria. I told them that some schools were totally peanut-free and there were big arguments about it; they looked at me like I had 2 heads.

First of all I would never think to ask why they weren't serving peanuts. I would just assume they were serving a different snack that day. Unless they made an announcement it woul dnever cross my mind to assume that someone on the plane had an allergy.

It wouldn't cross my mind, either. And even if they made the announcement, I'd have to explain it to my 68 year-old Mother - who will be flying with us for the first time this trip - as she's probably never heard of this problem.

The fact is that we cannot control others - only ourselves. There was a thread on the cruise boards a while back where the poster was going to ask her table mates not to eat a certain dessert.

A quick search of airline sites shows that 'reasonable accomodation' for US carriers is to establish a zone of three rows ahead and three rows behind as peanut free. Non-US carriers generally place the responsibility on the traveller

Ah...but you see, the difference is in the US, we're all owed something. Whether it be a fastpass because Test Track was down for 10 minutes, a gazillion dollars because we tried to drive with hot coffee in our laps or dessert-free space.

I've flown and taken the train on occasions when I have not had time to stop and pick up something to eat. I have to admit, if all food service had been suspended on a 4-7 hour train ride or flight, I would have been a little upset. But I suppose that's just me being selfish - I should have planned on the fact that someone on my conveyance might have a deadly food allergy.

All of which is totally OT, of course. The OP can bring a PBJ sandwich on the plane, but has decided to bring something else.