Nut allergy on planes...very nervous.

[HappyDznyCamper]

I traveled last year on Southwest with my girlfriend our daughters, her child has a peanut allergy, once we were at the gate, we notified the Rep... She made sure we were first in line and asked that we take the first row of seats on the plane....after everyone was on board, they made an annnouncement
somethig to the effect that there was a child (they did not center out the child ) on board the plane who was highly allergic to peanuts, and would like for the passengers to refrain if at all possible from eating such snack...
there was no backlash, ....the staff was great about it..

It would be really nice if the announcment could be made BEFORE people board, so that those who wish/need to go purchase other snacks could do so. Maybe when a passenger notifies the agents in the gate area they should also request that the announcment be made at the gate area early enough that other arraingments can be made by others. I think that given enough time most people would go get other snacks(might be irritated at the expense but would do it) so that they would be able to eat, keeps kids calm, whatever.

 

[Sleepy]

Let's say the child is so deathly allergic to peanuts that just opening a package does put him/her into suffocation and risk of death. I am sure the child has already had this sort of experience since they know this is the result.

How about asking the child how he/she feels about knowing someone on the plane will most likely be opening a peanut product causing him/her to suffocate. Do you really think the kid would be willing to get on the plane? As I said before, my son is highly allergic to carpet cleaning fluids. Still, 10 years after his really bad asthma attack, he flatly refuses to be placed into a room where carpets have been freshly cleaned. I don't understand how a parent can place their child in such danger.

 

[robinb]

I traveled last year on Southwest with my girlfriend our daughters, her child has a peanut allergy, once we were at the gate, we notified the Rep... She made sure we were first in line and asked that we take the first row of seats on the plane....after everyone was on board, they made an annnouncement
somethig to the effect that there was a child (they did not center out the child ) on board the plane who was highly allergic to peanuts, and would like for the passengers to refrain if at all possible from eating such snack...
there was no backlash, ....the staff was great about it..

I'm glad that things went well for you . Did your friend contact SWA before the flight or did she wait until you were at the gate? If she waited until the gate, I think that was too late. Southwest requests that passengers contract them before the day of the flight:

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/disability.html#peanut

 

[sorul82?]

Some passengers may have a health condition that requires food, and the food they brought contains peanuts.

Then that person should drive, take a bus, train, or not vacation.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Then that person should drive, take a bus, train, or not vacation.

It all comes down to personal responsibility. The person who needs specific food for meds ect. has packed what they need into their carry on(they have been responsible for their own needs). The person with the allergy(peanuts, milk, pets, whatever) needs to do what they can to be responsible for their needs too. If that means masks, gloves, sheets, antihistmines whatever, as well as following the airlines policy of notifying them 24 hours prior to flight time.

Again it comes down to not expecting the world to meet your needs but to do what you can to meet them yourself(without depriving others).

 

[sorul82?]

I think that if you are the person (or the parent of the person) with the allergy, you must be proactive for your own protection. Expecting strangers to accomodate your needs at cost to themselves *without advance notice* is very thoughtless, too.

I agree with this point as well. There just seems to be so much posturing going on nowadays. Whatever happened to kindness and compassion for our fellow human beings? Why are people so determined to rub their rights in people's faces?

I used to feel the same as some of you. Your child can't have peanuts, red dye #40, wool, medium hair dogs...then why do you even leave the house? But I'm changing. I think I am seeing others with disabilities and being thankful that we don't have the same issues and further realizing that we can temporarily work around the more severe disabilities.

My DS9 is ADHD and his meds kill his appetite. Sometimes the only thing he wants is peanut butter. Yes, he is at risk of being under weight, but we can and do find alternatives because of a classmate with peanut allergies. But now when parents want to dictate what we eat at home, then that is when I draw the line. If you don't want my child to have pb before school, then you need to vacuum the dog hair off your child before he goes to school. Oh, and my DS spent the weekend on his grandparent's farm in the peanut fields; are you gonna buy him a new pair of shoes? Sorry, I'm posturing; I'm working on it.

My DH is extremely allergic to cats and we just found out that my DS9 is allergic to dogs, molds, pecan trees, Bermuda grass, and highly allergic to dust mites. Hey, it's the hand we were dealt and deal with it, we will.

I think I strayed a little from the topic, but thanks for reading anyhow.

 

[sorul82?]

Another point I have is that some of our children have gone to school with peanut allergy kids from the start. Knowing there could be an allergy seems to just be a way of life for some and we are accustomed to the possibility of no peanuts allowed.

 

[sorul82?]

A few years ago a child at my DDs school had a nut allergy. A note was sent home that we were not to feed our child peanut butter before sending them to school. The child was not in my child's class but they were on the playground together and this other child had once had a reaction on the playground when she got on the swing after a child who had eaten peanut butter at home for lunch. I know this sounds harsh but I think that is a ridiculos request to make of parents. I can respect not sending nuts to school but to dictate what my child can eat before going to school is really going too far. There were days my very picky 4 year old would ONLY eat peanut butter. In those cases, I fed her and then threw her in the tub before heading to school but we were late then as I didn't realize that would be the day only peanut butter would be okay.

Oh my. I posted my reply before seeing your post.

On the interesting side...I read a study recently that they have developed an allergy treatment for peanut butter which gives the children an extremely minute amount of peanut each day (an amount so small they say you could never create it yourself) and increase it each day until the child starts having reactions then back it up one step and give a child that pill every day. Increasing when possible. Now many children who once reacted severely to nuts in the air can now toelrate contact and parents are able to send them to school without constant fear that there will be a reaction at school. I sincerely hope this treatment gets clearance and is soon available to all children with nut allergies.

I saw that. I think one child was up to 7 peanuts. It was nice to know they didn't have to constantly worry all the time if they accidentally ate a peanut.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

No flight can be guaranteed to be nut-free. Hello! Her argument was that peanut snacks are not served. It certainly doesn't mean other pax may or may not have peanut snacks they brought on board themselves. Her point was, and she can correct me if I am wrong, that FA's are not walking up and down the aisles passing them out, nor are peanut snacks served in first class.

As far as other nut allergies are concerned, none seem to have the same anaphylactic shock effect that peanut allergies are purported to have. Nor have I been asked on any flight not to consume a walnut for the sake of the health of another passenger.... your extensive science classes notwithstanding, let's go with plain common sense here... which, ironically, isn't so common.

Per my statement I said the flight was not NUT free and as far as my science classes taught me there are more than one type of nut and other nut combinations. My posts all state that UA and AA are not NUT free. I know people that are allergic to hazelnuts and othe nut combinations.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Trader Joe's Pretzel Slims. Wheat flour, sugar, salt, barley malt syrup. All that (pseudo) bavarian taste and made in a facility that processes milk and soy.

Unfortunately that line can be an hour or more, so it really negates my preclearance. I have asked about emergency food and there is zero tolerance.

Even things like Peek Frean cookies can have lard, believe it or not. I like the Cibo Gourmet places in American airports as they have things like Sahale snacks, but again so much of that is nut product. I like dried fruit or fruit bars but that again causing issues when travelling internationally (in fact I just tossed two Target fruit bars from my carry on today because fruit is one of the most commonly restricted items)

After the last flaming thread on this topic I actually spent a long time reading labels and so much says 'processed in a facility which may contain nuts'. Things which tend to be more safe (but don't list ingredients) are lemon loaf from Starbucks, or other bakery places. But then again, a lot of Starbucks items such as loaves and coffee cake do have nuts. It's a really tough thing to find items when there is limited options at airports, especially early in the morning. And of course my usual standby Laugenbrezl ('pretzel') isn't available. And bumbershoot, I stood in your home airport a few weeks ago at 430am at the only place which way open in that satellite, trying to find something which would meet my needs at at the same time be 'nut-free', just in case. It's really tough sometimes!

I really hope that the OP has come back and read here and will heed the advice and will call in advance. If this thread doesn't prompt her to call, perhaps it will educate a few others in how to best handle the situation.

And before someone calls me a poopyhead, I have often removed myself from a flight at my own time and expense if I think that my situation may cause others to be delayed. I don't think that the majority of readers or posters want to cause anyone harm, but if they don't have time to prepare and make arrangemets, the likelihood of someone doing so increases (whether intentional or inadvertent)

 

[pleakley]

I have a question about what would be an alternative to PB? Usually our flights are a max of 3 hours - the kids can survive that long without more than whatever the airline is passing out, but this time we will be boarding the plane at 6 am and not arriving until 2:30 pm in Orlando - I will definately have to pack us all something. We will not be getting off the plane at either of our layovers, we do have family boarding at the first stop but that is only an hour into the flight so that doesn't help much. There is a 2 hour time change, but that is still a long time without food of some sort, especially considering once we arrive in Orlando we have to pick up luggage, the rental car, etc.
I will definately pack peanut free snacks, but I can't think of any other kind of sandwich that would survive the trip.
TIA for any suggestions.

 

[kaytieeldr]

BLT, tuna, turkey, roast beef, ham sandwiches (pita even better - more enclosed).
Hummus & vegetables with hummus purchased after security.
Vegetables, fruits - fresh or dried.
Lunchables.

 

[pleakley]

Don't those all need to be kept cool? What is the policy on coolers/ice? I will have to go to Southwest and look it up, but thanks for the suggestions. I can't think of anything other than peanut butter that doesn't need to be kept cool...

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Morning flights we usually bring pre-packaged single serving cereal bowls with us. You can find them with all kinds of cereals. Check to see that the airline you fly provides milk onboard. If not, buy one milk that can be shared between everyone post-security. American provides it so I never bother buying any.

Friends of ours bring disposable bowls, plastic spoons, a little box of raisins and packets of instant flavored oatmeal with them on morning flights. They will always have hot water onboard, so if your kids like that it's a good option.

Freezing grapes is a good way to make your own ice-pack without it being a liquid or a gel. When the kids were younger we'd pack frozen grapes, single servings of string cheese, carrots and celery sticks, etc.

I have a question about what would be an alternative to PB? Usually our flights are a max of 3 hours - the kids can survive that long without more than whatever the airline is passing out, but this time we will be boarding the plane at 6 am and not arriving until 2:30 pm in Orlando - I will definately have to pack us all something. We will not be getting off the plane at either of our layovers, we do have family boarding at the first stop but that is only an hour into the flight so that doesn't help much. There is a 2 hour time change, but that is still a long time without food of some sort, especially considering once we arrive in Orlando we have to pick up luggage, the rental car, etc.
I will definately pack peanut free snacks, but I can't think of any other kind of sandwich that would survive the trip.
TIA for any suggestions.

 

[JLKennedy]

I would NOT pack tuna...IF it had mayo in it. Sorry, I'm not going out of my way or spending unnecessary money AT extortionistic prices via the airport concession stands....it's just not happening. My kids love the Sweet & Salty granola bars, yes, it not only contains peanuts, but peanut butter chips.

I usually will stop at Dunkin Donuts (since we always take the 1st flight out) and get them bagels or something, but we're also only in air for 3 hours.

 

[robinb]

I would NOT pack tuna...IF it had mayo in it.

I gotta say that if someone opened up a package of tuna next to me they would have more to worry about than being hungry. I would literally lose my breakfast/lunch/dinner or combination of all three between bumpy feel of the airplane on top of the smell of tuna fish ... where is that barfing smiley when you need it?

 

[bumbershoot]

Don't those all need to be kept cool? What is the policy on coolers/ice? I will have to go to Southwest and look it up, but thanks for the suggestions. I can't think of anything other than peanut butter that doesn't need to be kept cool...

YOu know...everyone says nowadays that tuna sandwiches, etc, need to be kept cool, but we often took those sandwiches to school, we kept our paper bag lunches in the closet, and nothing bad ever happened. It's kinda weird.

And actually just last night we were watching Food Detectives, and they stated that since commercial mayo is made with an acid like vinegar, the mayo is NOT conducive to the growth of things. However, the potatoes are, so if people get sick on warm potato salad, it's actually the potato growing the bacteria, not the mayo. But I digress. If I ate tuna anymore, I wouldn't concern myself with keeping things cold for the few hours it might take to get to the airport...

HOwever, I would also NEVER eat tuna on an airplane, YUCKO! Oh the smells....

I am with you!!! Everyone needs to be responsible for themselves and if my peanut butter crackers are going to have an effect on you 10 rows away then you really need not be on enclosed public transportation. I will not be stared at by other passengers for not soothing a crying child who is hungry and just so happen to only like PBJ sandwiches.

Well, ya know, we can all take that stand. Or we could learn from this thread and the thoughts that have come up in it, and maybe seek out a little snack that our kids like, our kids can eat (if there are issues on our own side like my family has), and won't possibly KILL another person.

Call me crazy, but I'm going for the second option for our future public transportation trips.

This reminds me of the big headline a few years back about the girl who had a peanut allergy and died after kissing her boyfriend who had eaten peanut butter earlier. At least that's what all the headlines claimed...funny how they didn't shout it from the rooftops when it was discovered later that she actually died of an asthma attack triggered by smoking pot.

I knew there was something else discovered that actually killed her, but I didn't know it was that! Wowza!

I traveled last year on Southwest with my girlfriend our daughters, her child has a peanut allergy, once we were at the gate, we notified the Rep... She made sure we were first in line and asked that we take the first row of seats on the plane....after everyone was on board, they made an annnouncement
somethig to the effect that there was a child (they did not center out the child ) on board the plane who was highly allergic to peanuts, and would like for the passengers to refrain if at all possible from eating such snack...
there was no backlash, ....the staff was great about it..

It's really too bad they couldn't have announced it before boarding.

 

[NotUrsula]

Don't those all need to be kept cool? What is the policy on coolers/ice? I will have to go to Southwest and look it up, but thanks for the suggestions. I can't think of anything other than peanut butter that doesn't need to be kept cool...

You can do two things: you can carry ice in ziplocs, dump it before security, then visit an airside bar or restaurant to refill your ice. Or, you can use frozen food as ice: grapes, peas, etc.

 

[RubySlippers]

Disney is filled with nut and nut dust areas. PB&J is served in most counter serve restaurants. Families take peanut butter sandwiches and eat those on park benches. I have seen peanuts eaten in shows and on many slow rides.

This is very true our friends daughter had a severe allergic reaction at WDW and was taken out of the park by paramedics. She spent two days in the hospital. Please be careful! If you child has a severe airborne peanut allergy you may want to consider them wearing a mask during the trip. Have a safe trip!

Ruby

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Sorry, I'm not going out of my way or spending unnecessary money AT extortionistic prices via the airport concession stands...

I don't think the prices at airports are that out of line. No more then at Disney or any other restrictive audience location. For me, I'll pay more for convenience.

Well, ya know, we can all take that stand. Or we could learn from this thread and the thoughts that have come up in it, and maybe seek out a little snack that our kids like, our kids can eat (if there are issues on our own side like my family has), and won't possibly KILL another person.

Call me crazy, but I'm going for the second option for our future public transportation trips.

I struggle with this stance. I think as a society we have to protect our weakest members, however I also believe we ALL need to be responsible for ourselves. I would never intentionally attempt to harm someone, but I also think a person who knows they may be placing themselves in harms way owes it to themselves to ensure their safety, even if it means taking alternative means of transportation.