what food can you bring on planes?

[clori]

I'm flying in about a week. Our flight is 4 hours leaving at 9:30. We are trying to figure out what we can bring 1. for breakfast to eat past security but before going on the plane and 2. what we can bring for lunch on the airplane. I'm assuming we can get a drink at a stand past security so thinking about muffins for breakfast and to include maybe peanut butter/jelly for the ride? How about lunchables?

 

[tkldisney]

As long as there is no liquid involved you can take food through security and on the plane.
Just buy your drink once your through security.

 

[crashbb]

PB and J that is already in sandwich form is fine. Otherwise the PB and J would have abide by the 3-1-1 rule (3oz and in your baggie).

If the lunchable doesn't have any liquids/gels (e.g. a juice or mustard/mayonnaise) it is fine. The liquid/gels would have to be 3oz (or less) and in your baggie.

General rule of thumb - don't bring smelly and/or messy food (and no liquids or gels). Your ideas sound okay (given the aforementioned constraints).

 

[CleveRocks]

Peanut butter and jelly as a sandwich is fine (as crashbb said). Containers of peanut butter and jelly would NOT be fine (unless packed in the 3-1-1 bag).

Yogurt is not OK unless it's in a labeled container of 3.4 (100 ml) ounces or less and is in the 3-1-1 bag. Same for pre-made Jell-O or pudding ... or even Jell-O pudding.

As long as it's not a liquid or gel or aerosol (no cans of spray cheese!), you are permitted to bring it through security and onto the plane. But please ... if you bring a pickled herring sandwich with mayo and onions, please eat it BEFORE you get on the plane and not when you're sitting next to me. Maybe brush your teeth and wash all exposed skin before boarding, also!

 

[goofy4tink]

The other thing to be aware of is the possibility of not being able to eat that peanut butter/jelly sandwich on the plane. I have been on at least 3 flights where an announcement was made that there was a passenger with a nut allergy on board, and to please not take any food items that contain nuts out while on the flight. I've had to keep my pb/j sandwich wrapped until we landed. I was a wee bit hungry on one flight!!

 

[Alexander]

The other thing to be aware of is the possibility of not being able to eat that peanut butter/jelly sandwich on the plane. I have been on at least 3 flights where an announcement was made that there was a passenger with a nut allergy on board, and to please not take any food items that contain nuts out while on the flight. I've had to keep my pb/j sandwich wrapped until we landed. I was a wee bit hungry on one flight!!

I completely understand allergies...but this seems a little excessive to incovenience that many people! What if I am traveling with my 2 y/o and I brought him a PB&J, I have to tell him he can't eat until we land? What happens in a restaurant? Do they ask the people sitting next to them to not order anything with peanuts too? I'm not looking to stir up and trouble here, but I think that is asking a little too much of other passengers!

 

[goofy4tink]

I completely understand allergies...but this seems a little excessive to incovenience that many people! What if I am traveling with my 2 y/o and I brought him a PB&J, I have to tell him he can't eat until we land? What happens in a restaurant? Do they ask the people sitting next to them to not order anything with peanuts too? I'm not looking to stir up and trouble here, but I think that is asking a little too much of other passengers!

It's basically because of the recirculation of air within the plane. Hey, I hear you, I really do. My dd couldn't have pbj at school because there were kids with allergies..not even a designated table was okay..they banned all peanut products and pb is a staple of my dd's diet.
Again, it an air recirculation issue..if someone in row 2 is eating pb, but someone in row 21 is highly allergic, that peanut allergen is going to be floating around due to the recirculated air.
I would suggest you bring the sandwich and eat it at the airport and bring plain crackers or cheese for your ds to eat on the flight itself. Because, if an FA walks past you and you are enjoying your pbj sandwich, and they have asked everyone to not bring out peanut products, they are going to have a harsh word for you...it's endangering someone's life elsewhere on the plane.

 

[bavaria]

I know that it is a touchy subject, but I would always warn anyone with food allergies, especially nuts, to ensure that the GA makes the announcement in the gate area and not wait until the plane is in the air (which has happened frequently to me on long flights; as a result I had no food to eat at all, and the airline wouldn't even sell their snack boxes)

Delta only guarantees a nut free zone of two rows, I believe. Internatiional carriers are not as sensitive to this; I have sat in on a LH briefing and heard the crew reaction to the request that no nuts be served at all on an A340 (which is a rather large aircraft). The instance of nut allergy outside the US is comparatively low, so there is not as much awareness of the issue.

As a veggie it is hard to find travel type foods which do not contain nuts, or which were not prepared in a nut facility.

sorry for the detour, but anyone reading this who does have allergies really should ensure that the airline is aware in ADVANCE, and that the GA makes the announcement. That will help to ensure that people are aware and that the danger of exposure is lessened.

It also allows people to find alternate food around the gate area before the flight.

 

[goofy4tink]

Most excellent post. Two of those three nut experiences were on SW, but one was on Delta. Wonder why the Delta FA's made the announcement.
I would think it would be a good idea to announce the allergy issue at the gate area, well before boarding, exactly for the reasons you stated. It would be nice to be able to grab something else in the event that peanut products are not going to be allowed on the plane.

 

[dizcrazee]

I completely understand allergies...but this seems a little excessive to incovenience that many people! What if I am traveling with my 2 y/o and I brought him a PB&J, I have to tell him he can't eat until we land? What happens in a restaurant? Do they ask the people sitting next to them to not order anything with peanuts too? I'm not looking to stir up and trouble here, but I think that is asking a little too much of other passengers!

As the mother of a child with life threatening peanut allergy, I find this post very insensitive and offensive. Please understand that a person with severe peanut allergy can DIE from exposure to peanuts, and many people are airborne and contact reactive. The recirculated air, enclosed atmosphere, and inaccessibility of emergency medical care in an airplane make it particularly important to avoid exposure. No, I don't think that it's too much to ask to "inconvenience" the other passengers for a short while to protect my child's life.

 

[hearts8701]

there are so many snacks for children i would take string cheese.. cheese cubes...small hot dogs are great and child size... some fish crackers... pretzels... fruit roll ups... fruit in a baggie... a sandwich of cold cuts or cheese cut with a cookie cutter to make it fun... 100 calories snacks work great for children too just the right size in cookies & chips why take a chance on peanut butter children like different things be creative they'll love the change what a great way to start your trip with a creative surprise snack even if its an early morning flight no one said breakfast has to be eggs or pancakes
worse that could happen you buy a meal at the airport and bring it on the plane i've seen people eating mcdonalds... hot pretzels... bagels... etc. and drinks all purchased after security check
make it magical and start your vacation as soon as you arrive at the airport

 

[bavaria]

As the mother of a child with life threatening peanut allergy, I find this post very insensitive and offensive. Please understand that a person with severe peanut allergy can DIE from exposure to peanuts, and many people are airborne and contact reactive. The recirculated air, enclosed atmosphere, and inaccessibility of emergency medical care in an airplane make it particularly important to avoid exposure. No, I don't think that it's too much to ask to "inconvenience" the other passengers for a short while to protect my child's life.

But please do consider my request to have it announced in the gate area. To ask 250 people not to eat anything which may have been made in a factory where nuts are processed on an 11 hour flight is quite different once the plane has taken off, as I am certain that you can understand.

Soem parents have brought along nut-free snacks for those passengers around them, which is certainly not necessary but a great idea.

But as this thread is not specifically about nut allergies but rather what to eat on the plane, I will detour back to topic!

I like to have granola bars, trail mix, etc. I generally don't eat anything with a strong odour on board, or anything which may get soggy etc. I will eat those in the gate area before boarding.

Some airports are better than others for food. My home airport doesn't offer much for veggies in the early AM (even the few cookies they sell in the shop have lard) so granola bars and/or chocolate is my usual emergency snack. (But I avoid chocolate as it can melt)

 

[Alexander]

As the mother of a child with life threatening peanut allergy, I find this post very insensitive and offensive. Please understand that a person with severe peanut allergy can DIE from exposure to peanuts, and many people are airborne and contact reactive. The recirculated air, enclosed atmosphere, and inaccessibility of emergency medical care in an airplane make it particularly important to avoid exposure. No, I don't think that it's too much to ask to "inconvenience" the other passengers for a short while to protect my child's life.

I'm sorry you found this insensitive because it is clearly not meant to be. I knew that someone would have this reaction and that is why I stated that I understand allergies. I have a child with a very rare skin condition in which he produces too many mast cells. Mast cells produce histamine and he can have an anaphylaxis reaction to many different things. However, if my child had that severe of an allergy to something airborne and out of my control, I would not take him anywhere that he could be exposed. What do you do if someone in line behind you is eating peanuts? Ask them to put them away? I just do not believe in inconveniencing other people this way.

 

[crashbb]

Something I learned on my last flight - if you buy a bag of potato chips at the airport shop, open them before getting on the plane or you risk an explosion. The bag got very full of air and it was rather difficult to open.

 

[bavaria]

So which flavour potato chip did you end up wearing? Ketchup? or dill pickle?

 

[Vijoge]

What do you do if someone in line behind you is eating peanuts? Ask them to put them away? I just do not believe in inconveniencing other people this way.

Well, yeah, what's wrong with asking someone to put them away? Is the person in line likely to starve to death if they don't finish their peanuts? Peanut allergy is serious, sometimes fatal. I sure don't want to be the one standing there watching someone die because I wanted my snack and couldn't be inconvenienced by waiting 10 minutes.

 

[dizcrazee]

I'm sorry you found this insensitive because it is clearly not meant to be. I knew that someone would have this reaction and that is why I stated that I understand allergies. I have a child with a very rare skin condition in which he produces too many mast cells. Mast cells produce histamine and he can have an anaphylaxis reaction to many different things. However, if my child had that severe of an allergy to something airborne and out of my control, I would not take him anywhere that he could be exposed. What do you do if someone in line behind you is eating peanuts? Ask them to put them away? I just do not believe in inconveniencing other people this way.

Alexander, if we are in a public place and someone is eating peanuts/PB nearby, we just move away from the area. The point about peanuts on a plane is that you can't really get away from it since the air is re-circulated, etc. I personally don't think it is asking too much to prohibit one type of food so that people with PA can fly safely, especially considering that it is the most common food allergy and is exceptionally dangerous.

bavaria, I completely agree that an announcement should be made prior to boarding so that other passengers have an opportunity to get something else to eat if necessary.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Something I learned on my last flight - if you buy a bag of potato chips at the airport shop, open them before getting on the plane or you risk an explosion. The bag got very full of air and it was rather difficult to open.

What food do I bring on the plane? Hmm, I'm probably a weird one, come to think of it. I don't think I have ever brought any food with me on the plane. I eat at the airport. Between getting out of the house and the flight actually taking off there tends to be 4/5 hours in my case. Also I tend to have morning departures. So I have a brunch at the airport. It's hitting two flies at ones, because I never totally trust to be filled with the 'great' airline meals one gets on intercontinental flights. Upside to that; I've never run into an intercontinental flight that didn't at least give me some icecream** or other candy to go along with the 'food'. That's another thing to munch on. By then I'll be asleep anyway and lo and behold; there is my destination or transit airport allready. If needed, I eat something there and on to the next flight with either a short flight (anything up to 3 hours doesn't have me think 'hmmmm, I am hungry and want something to eat right here on the plane and now') or a longer one with the same 'food' and snacks.



*** Which I'm a big sucker for! I still MA since I found out they still carry the icecream I have been in love with since the late '80's but has been banished from our place since the early '90's. So come on LH, have some real nice icecream for me in december.

 

[aubriee]

As the mother of a child with life threatening peanut allergy, I find this post very insensitive and offensive. Please understand that a person with severe peanut allergy can DIE from exposure to peanuts, and many people are airborne and contact reactive. The recirculated air, enclosed atmosphere, and inaccessibility of emergency medical care in an airplane make it particularly important to avoid exposure. No, I don't think that it's too much to ask to "inconvenience" the other passengers for a short while to protect my child's life.

I too understand allergies and how dangerous they can be, but I agree with Bavaria that an announcement should be made before boarding so that others can make other arrangements for food. My mom is a very, very brittle diabetic who has been in and out of the hosptials for years and in a coma more than once. She has passed out more than once with low blood sugars. Her blood sugar can go from over 400 to the low 30's within the span of just a few hours. One of the few things that will bring her blood sugar up quickly and keep it up is peanut butter. She never goes anywhere distant without a peanut butter sandwich. Candy or orange juice will bring her blood sugar up, but neither will keep it up. Meat sandwiches don't work for her either. Once on a flight an announcement was made (after take off) for people not to eat peanut products . We called a FA and explained my mom's problem and the silly FA said that if her blood sugar started dropping to let her know and she'd get us a salad . I don't think so! Thankfully my mom's blood sugar did not drop during that flight. If it had we would have asked for some orange juice or a regular coke, but those would only be able to bring her blood sugar up for a short time. She would have had to had some solid food and would have had to had it quickly. Again though her blood sugar is much more brittle than most diabetics. When it starts dropping she MUST eat immediately and peanut butter is all that would have been available on that flight to bring her sugar up.

 

[Selket]

One of the few things that will bring her blood sugar up quickly and keep it up is peanut butter. When it starts dropping she MUST eat immediately and peanut butter is all that would have been available on that flight to bring her sugar up.

I didn't want to quote your whole post but I respectfully have many issues with it. My son is both a type 1 diabetic and is touch allergic to peanuts and allergic to tree nuts but would have to eat them.

PB doesn't raise the blood sugar quickly - with all the fat and protein it is quite slow acting. It can keep the blood sugar up but so can other forms of carbohydrates. There is nothing magic about a peanut in that regard. Enough of a fast acting carb works just as well. If it won't work then her insulin regimen needs to be examined (newer insulins like lantus/novolog, an insulin pump which would allow her to discontinue her basal, etc).

Since others are probably not familiar with insulin dependent diabetes I wanted to post that it really annoys me to see this used as a reason that some people might need to have PB on an airplane.