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sunbeem

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sunbeem
June 22, 2010 5:48 pm

I have had a nut allergy for my whole life and I am not just allergic to peanuts. I am actually allergic to all nuts. I can say from personal travel experience that when people eat nuts on an airplane I feel uncomfortable. I don’t have an airborne allergy but I don’t like the smell of peanuts being eaten around and in close proximity to me, especially when the air is being recirculated as it is in an airplane. I feel that airlines should strive to create the best experience possible and I don’t see how they can do that when I sit in my seat and try to hold my breath for as long as possible in order to avoid the horrible smell of nuts. On a side note, the fact that they only serve peanuts is extremely inconvenient for me because then there is no food for me to eat as I… more »

…am allergic to it. I think that an overall ban on all nuts and nut products on airlines should be implemented. It would be the easiest and most effective option. I don’t think it should matter that airlines are private companies. That shouldn’t be a deciding factor on whether or not they have to deal with people’s problems. Additionally, there are plenty of other snacks that can be offered on planes. For example, jet blue offers a wide variety of options like chips. Airlines are extremely inconsiderate when it comes to nut allergies. I am very cautious and so are my parents but I have had problems on flights even though we called in advance to make sure that they knew I had an allergy. In one instance, I was served a meal on a Lufthansa flight that actually had nuts in it after we had called them multiple times to tell them to have a separate meal prepared for me. That’s just careless behavior that could have resulted in a very severe reaction had I not taken my medication in time. I think a buffer zone would be ineffective because I can smell people eating nuts even when they are not next to me. I hope that something is done to eliminate nuts for airplanes so that others don’t have to go through the awful experiences I have had. « less
steyermark
June 22, 2010 5:59 pm

I appreciate your circumstance. But because you don’t like the smell of nuts, we can’t go instituting bans on foods. I don’t like the smell of fast food – does that mean there needs to be a ban on people bringing McD’s on board? As for food options, pack you own. I do. I bring my own snacks. People with severe metabolic conditions like PKU travel with their own food. Bring a bag of pretzels. Raisins. Whatever. It sounds like your “awful” experiences have not resulted in any allergic reactions. Bans on foods should be based exclusively on research. Not on people feeling uncomfortable around certain foods. Because if that’s what regulations are based on, then there will soon be nothing served on any flight – and I don’t think that’s… more »

…what anyone wants. Again, I hope the DOT seriously considers actual research when making regulations. « less
mulder
June 22, 2010 10:37 pm

Air is not recirculated on airplanes. That’s a myth that you need to stop clinging to in order to rationalize your desire for a ban on nuts. It’s a tired, old excuse, but it doesn’t work.

So JetBlue serves chips. Do you mean potato chips? Did you consider that some people are allergic to potatoes? What about the type of oil used to cook those chips: Peanut oil, or Corn oil? Whichever it is, people are allergic to both, so that means you can’t serve that as a snack to some people, too.

And down the slippery slope we go. So, can you figure out which mystery food can be served as a snack on-board an airliner that somebody isn’t allergic to? Good luck with that.


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