Profile: eethomp
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What's Happening Now
June 22, 2010 10:01 pm
That should be “no food other than packaged snacks.” Sorry.
June 23, 2010 12:45 am
Thank you for your contribution. Do you have an specific suggestions on how the DOT could inform passengers pre-flight in an effective way?
July 6, 2010 9:19 am
Actually, I do know what I’m talking about. Celiac disease and gluten allergies are two different things. The fact that you don’t understand that illustrates your ignorance of the issue at hand.
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I have celiac disease and hypoglycemia. Last time I flew, it was a fairly long flight but the airline had informed us that food other than packaged snacks was to be offered. I purchased some safe, gluten-free trail mix at the airport and tossed it into my carry-on so that I could have something to eat. It had dried fruit, nuts, and included peanuts. My concern was gluten, not peanuts.
There was a child with a peanut allergy on the plane and not only did the flight crew refuse to serve peanuts to the entire plane, but I was asked to put away the gluten-free trail mix I had just bought IN THE AIRPORT. I would have eaten something else to keep my blood sugar up, but every single snack on that plane other than the peanuts contained gluten. I came off the three hour flight dizzy, sick, hypoglycemic,… more »
If DOT is going to restrict peanuts on planes it needs to be CLEARLY COMMUNICATED ON THE TICKET AND IN ADVANCE. It’s easy to bring foods without peanuts but only if you know to do so. « less
That should be “no food other than packaged snacks.” Sorry.
By the way, once I got off the plane where I was asked to put my personal stash of peanut-containing trail mix away, I did some research on airborn food allergy because I was skeptical. DOT may want to consider this study supporting reactions to airborne particles of food allergens. Ramirez and Bahna. Clin Mol Allergy. 2009; 7: 4.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2651849/?tool=pubmed
A blanket restriction can be communicated as part of the ticket purchase, much like the new luggage fees. I would suggest asking airlines to print it on the itinerary with food information, and on boarding passes.
As I think about it, there are some serious communication issues with peanut-free zones or individual peanut-free flights. I have had flight times changed and the airline failed to email or telephone me. I caught the time change when I logged in to print a boarding pass. My brother almost missed a flight when the same thing happened to him.
If a peanut-allergic person books a flight a short time before travel, the airlines are not reliable enough to notify passengers. The information could be provided when people log in to print boarding passes, but not everyone prints them… more »
Peanut-free zones on full flights could be handled by the flight staff moving people who want to eat peanuts around the cabin; however, people are sometimes resistant to being reseated and it puts a burden on the flight crew.
As I write this, I think DOT is going to have to go with an all or none policy on peanuts. It’s too difficult to communicate to other passengers with different dietary restrictions who might pack peanuts with a “sometimes” policy. « less
You have no idea what you’re talking about either. Celiac disease is not an “allergy” and someone sitting in the next seat eating pretzels poses no risk to a celiac. Even if a celiac ingests trace gluten, the reaction is uncomfortable, not life-threatening. On the off-chance there is turbulence and somebody’s pretzel lands in my drink, I’m sure the airline would replace it.