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Travelling with food allergies can be a nightmare, however you make your journey. But flying can be far worse, as there is no rule that airlines have to consider their customers with food allergies.
Over the years we have been continuing to campaign to raise awareness of the risks that people with food allergies are subjected to when travelling on airplanes and we want to share our top tips with you for those travelling by air this summer.
9 Tips for travellers who are flying.
1. Check the food allergy policy (if they have one) of the airline before booking.
2. Consider the time you fly. Generally, planes are deep cleaned overnight, which means morning flights are more likely to have less chance of cross contamination on any surfaces.
3. Make sure you arrived extra early to check-in, giving you plenty of time to check if your requests for seating and early boarding are still possible. Ask if you can pre-board and wipe your seat and surrounding area.
4. Before you travel, make sure your allergy medication is in your hand luggage, and therefore accessible at all times. Also, always carry documentary proof of need from your doctor, as you may well be questioned.
5. Check that your allergy medication doesn’t expire during the time you are away.
6. Beforehand check if you can bring your own food. It isn’t consistent, but some airlines will allow this. But, remember you will have to remove it from your carry-on luggage to go through customs. Therefore, it is important that your choice of food meets dietary requirements. For example, fresh fruit and vegetables are not allowed.
7. At every opportunity you get, Inform the airline staff of your food allergy. When booking, boarding and before food is served.
8. Carry a pack of wipes to clean down surfaces.
9. Not all airlines are equal, so on request, some airlines will make announcements to the other travellers that there is a passenger on board with food allergies. However, this is not a legal requirement, and passengers can refuse to comply.
Airlines that are helpful to travellers with food allergies:
- British Airways – none of their in-flight meals contain peanuts or peanut products. However, they can’t offer a peanut-free meal, because the facility where the meals are produced, may handle peanuts. They do provide guidance on ingredients used in most of their meals.
- EasyJet – will stop the sale of any products containing nut traces on board. However, they cannot guarantee a nut or allergen-free environment.
- Jet2, is the same as EasyJet, they’ll make an announcement that they won’t be selling nuts and peanuts. But, again, they cannot guarantee a nut or allergen-free environment.
- Virgin Atlantic, now stock Creative Nature products taking that step to ensure a more inclusive offering for all passengers. They have now banned all peanuts on board their airlines but still continue to serve tree nuts.
The biggest problem for passengers suffering from food allergies, there is not an overall policy on what airlines should do.
And what most of the airlines agree about is that they cannot guarantee an allergen -free environment, and they cannot stop other passengers from eating nuts during the flight.
We hope these tips are helpful, don’t let your food allergies limit you!
