Nut allergy sufferers and airlines

[MENTALMUM]

Originally Posted by ashchall95

would the airport advise us on this ?

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Airport are unable to help as they do not know about individual airlines, Each airline has a set time for menu changes and they may change 3 monthly or 6 monthly so individual airlines should be able to let you know what food is served for the flight you hope to book if its in that time frame, if not you will need to wait until closer to your travel day to check.

[Jo 77]

When we flew with virgin in August, they made an announcement on both flights about a passenger with a severe nut allergy. Hopefully anyone who had nuts on them then took the advice seriously.

[sully301]

Originally Posted by RickT

Note, the airline cant prevent any pax bringing nuts on board and consuming them.

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And on my outbound flight there was an announcement but the idiots across the aisle from me decided it didn't apply to them and ate peanut M&Ms. When we got off the plane they had obviously spilt them as they were in the aisles!

[JAF]

Virgin serve cheese and spring onion pretzels and no nuts. Wish they could change the pretzels to something else as I do not like them.

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by JAF

Virgin serve cheese and spring onion pretzels and no nuts. Wish they could change the pretzels to something else as I do not like them.

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Hi Jill, we really like KP Snacks, Penn State pretzels that VA dish out, keep meaning to buy some but always forget, you've jogged my memory

As it can be life threatening to some we wouldn't eat nuts on an aircraft. I find it unfortunate even after a polite announcement some pax still consume nuts, although in the instance of airline food pax may not be aware.

[Jankz33]

Originally Posted by ashchall95

Thanks so the nuts are still served with those passengers on board ? I know this may seem dramatic however the thought of anaphylaxis mid Atlantic is quite scary and my doctor has advised my allergy is airborne

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Both BA and Virgin serve nuts despite the announcement. They only do not serve ‘peanuts’. So if you are also tree nut airborne that would be really difficult. My sister is peanut and tree nut allergic but luckily not airborne. Despite calling special assistance and telling the crew on board in 2018 virgin served macadamia nut bars for breakfast, cashew nuts on the vegetarian curry. BA this year served a nut pesto on the vegetarian pasta despite making an announcement and removing nut products from other passengers. We find the whole experience extremely stressful.

For whatever reason airlines think nut allergy means peanut allergy only. They also state this on the website. They have yet to discover the separate world of tree nuts. So when they state they do not serve ‘nuts’ this is peanuts only.

EDIT: my sister does not eat the on board meals. This was the food given to me and my mum sitting next to her.

[Jankz33]

Originally Posted by MENTALMUM

What are you allergic to as this can make a huge difference, if it is peanuts then you are relatively safe with any airline as they have a reasonable understanding of peanut allergy, none of them will guarantee that the food is completely safe and actively encourage you to take your own food. If it is tree nut allergy you need to be more careful especially if you travel with an american company, they freely offer nuts as they are a cheap snack so you are at risk straight away from any debris left over from previous flights even if they do not serve any as snacks.
You also need to scrutinise the menu as they can serve nuts as part of the vegetarian menu.
We have had a horrendous experience with Virgin although it was 5 years ago where my son was offboarded as they were serving walnut penne pasta and he is anaphylactic allergic to walnuts. I had had numerous discussions with them prior to flying and they assured me no nuts would be served but hey were part of the meal. We were advised on that flight that if my son's allergies were airbourne that he wouldn't be able to fly as they couldn't guarantee his safety
We have flown with Thomas Cook since then as they were brilliant, sadly they are no more. We are now in a similar position to you as I need to re book for next year and not happy with any of the choices.

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We have exactly the same problem every year. My sister is anaphylactic to peanuts and tree nuts but luckily not airborne. She always takes a boots meal deal on board but as me and my mum are vegetarian we are always served nuts sitting next to her. Many times we have gone hungry so now also take our own food on board with us. No matter how many times we ring special assistance they just cannot grasp the existence of tree nuts. This is with both virgin and BA.

[Malificent]

We have had announcements in the past regarding Pax with a peanut allergy, but it doesn’t happen often. We are very selective with our flight snacks, to avoid anyone being ill. We have no allergies but I would hate to be responsible for making someone ill.

[EssexSue]

Virgin do pretzels and TUI posh popcorn.

[Lisbon]

Originally Posted by Blue nose

I think virgin give pretzels rather than nuts. I've read on here that they do announcements. Maybe give the airport of choice a call?

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Virgin used to give it dry roasted peanuts but changed to pretzels years ago.
They also make announcements about nut alergies sometimes
Rob