Allergy Safe Travel

AllergySafeTravel.com, a new online travel resource for those with food allergies, is preparing to shoot a video this summer in the western suburbs of Chicago. They are looking for people, both children and adults, who have had reactions to nuts on airplanes. They’re also looking for individuals who have never flown before because of the nut issue. This footage will be used during a presentation to the airline association this fall. It's a great opportunity to tell your story to those who have the ability to make policy changes within the airline industry. If you or someone you know might be interested, please contact Amy at Amy@AllergySafeTravel.com.


For those of you who don't live in the Chicago area, there is also a new FB page, "Allergic Reactions on Airplanes" where you can leave your story. Allergy Safe Travel also has a Facebook Page here.

Westjet Inflight Snacks

Thanks to Allergic Living for the heads up on West Jet, and the new allergy safe in flight foods, they now offer.

West Jet In-flight Snacks

Allergy Safe foods, now available on West Jet:

Twizzlers "All wrapped Twizzlers, Rainbow Twizzlers, Nibs, Super Nibs, Pull-n-Peel and Twerpz products sold in Canada are labeled Peanut Free." (also tree nut free)

Enjoy Life Very Berry Bar "NO wheat/gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish or shellfish--the allergens that account for 90% of all food allergic reactions in the United States. Enjoy Life products are also made without casein, potato, sesame and sulfites."

Fruit Source Mini Bites SunRype Canada"Sun-Rype products do not contain any Nut, Peanut, Gluten, Soy, Eggs, or Dairy products and they are manufactured in a facility that does not process any products containing these allergens. If you have food sensitivities, we always recommend that you review the ingredient listing prior to purchasing any product." SunRype USA allergy info




Related pages, and posts
Travel Information

Seat covers for People Travelling with Allergies

Airline policies regarding allergies.

Airline Seat Covers

People with severe contact allergies are often concerned with contact allergens. People with anaphylaxis, who are planning to fly often cover their seats to reduce the risk of contact reactions. Her are some brands of seat covers for people planning to fly, some people also use seat covers for movie theaters.


Airline Seat Covers from Onespot Allergy Airline seat covers designed specifically to help you stay safe when traveling with food allergy and anaphylaxis (black). 100% cotton jersey with attached arm rest covers.



Plane Sheets PlaneSheets offers today's travelers an innovative and practical way to personalize their travel space while keeping at bay germs, crumbs and spills from previous passengers.



New Seat NewSeat.com covers are packaged with 2 covers and 2 cleansing wipes per bag. The covers are comfortable and hygienic,
providing 100% coverage of the seating and back surfaces. Cleansing wipes provided for additional sanitation and peace of mind – armrests, airline tray tables, etc.

More information on traveling with food allergies.

Banning Nuts Plans or....

Do we need nuts on planes? Should we ban them? Different groups within the allergy community disagree on this issue.

ANAPHYLAXIS AND FOOD ALLERGY ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA (AFAA) has 20 recommendations that their board of directors initially created in dialogue with Northwest/Delta airlines when they began to serve peanut snacks. While they wait for the U.S. DOT to review comments, they are arranging meetings with MN Congressional Representatives and Senators to keep the issue on their radar in advance of any opportunity to influence policy by regulation or legislation.


Elizabeth Goldenberg of Onespot Allergy started a petition For banning nuts, that people can still sign Banning Peanuts From Airlines (click to sign petition) it is an urgent call to action to support the proposed ban of peanuts on airlines.

ANAPHYLAXIS AND FOOD ALLERGY ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA (AFAA):

The Anaphylaxis and Food Allergy Association of Minnesota (AFAA) created a survey regarding flying with food allergies: more than 2,034 people took the survey (whose results are also being sent to you electronically). Some notable statistics:

More than 43% were reluctant to “fly on a flight that serves or sells peanut snacks”
More than 39% refused to “fly on a flight that serves or sells peanut snacks”
More than 10% cancelled flights “because of peanut or treenut snacks on board airplanes”

More seriously, 234 respondents reported allergic reactions from exposure on an airplane. The cause of the reactions and allergens are described in the survey results.

Our organization understands that it is impossible for an airline to:
• guarantee a peanut-free flight;
• prevent passengers from bringing peanuts on board the aircraft; or
• guarantee that remnants of peanuts, peanut dust, and peanut oil will not remain on the aircraft floor, seats, tray tables, or in airline food.

We do believe, though, that airlines can greatly reduce the risk of food allergic reactions by not serving bags of peanuts, and by consistently implementing a 3 row buffer zone around passengers with other food allergies.

To reduce the risk of allergic reactions on aircraft, we would like to request these policy changes from the U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Aviation Administration:

Emergency Preparedness

1. autoinjector training for flight crew
2. autoinjectors (brand names: EpiPen, Twinject, Adrenaclick) on aircraft medical carts
Allergen Containment Options
3. upon request, a 3 row buffer zone where allergenic snacks are not served. Allergens specified may be peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, or wheat
4. upon request at time of reservation, peanut-snack free flights**
5. upon request, no peanut-snack sales**
6. peanut-snack free overseas flights**
7. upon request, on-board announcement asking for voluntary passenger compliance
8. designated rows on all aircraft where specified allergens would not be served ("food allergen reduction zone")
9. on-board announcement asking for passenger compliance with food allergen reduction zone
10. the possibility of regularly scheduled peanut-snack free flights

Cleaning Management

11. preboarding so parents/individuals can wipe down seats and trays*
12. through, frequent aircraft cleaning
13. sales or complimentary seat covers, tray covers, and hand wipes

Customer Service

14. posting of carriers’ allergen policies
15. food allergy training for airline staff
16. airline contact person trained to help families arrange appropriate accommodations: airline would remind/recommend to passengers to bring epinephrine and authorization

Public/Passenger Education

17. cross contamination warning label (for 8 major U.S. allergens) on airline food served
18. awareness through various means, such as in-flight magazine articles, about flying or traveling with food allergies (AFAA can provide materials and experts for interviewing)
19. website information providing tips for flying with food allergies (which AFAA and other organizations can provide)
20. active cooperation with medical researchers to determine allergen hazards on aircraft

*per Air Carrier Access Regulations 14 CFR, Part 382.38
**We would also like the airline to consider these accommodations for tree nut allergens




From banning all nuts to accommodation many disagree, there is also a Facebook Group called You Don't Need Nuts to Fly that people can join or comment on.

More travel information also readers may want to read this New York Times Article on the on the cleanliness of airlines.

Travelling with Food Allergies

Thanks to Cynthia Schuck at Special Gourmets who has contributed her article on Travelling by plane with dietary restrictions, we are able to update and improve our travel page at Avoiding Milk Protein.

Thanks also to Chris Popek at Clean Out the Pantry who recounts her two trips to Toronto, Ontario, with a child and sibling with a peanut allergy. Her stories have also been added to Avoiding Milk Protein's page on traveling.


Avoiding Milk Protein:
Travelling with Food Allergies

Update nuts on plains

From:
Anaphylaxis & Food Allergy Association of Minnesota

Peanuts on Airplanes
AFAA Negotiates with Northwest/Delta Airlines

Meeting With the Airlines

An AFAA delegation met with Northwest/Delta Airlines in March to begin negotiations on reducing risks to food allergic passengers. The delegation consisted of AFAA's Medical Advisor, Dr. Allan Stillerman; AFAA's Founder & Executive Director, Nona Narvaez; former Star Tribune travel editor, Catherine Watson (who has a severe peanut allergy); and Minnesota Senator Jim Carlson, (vice-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee).

Also attending the meeting was Alan Peterson (senior aide to Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar), who arranged the meeting between AFAA and the airlines.

Dr. Stillerman gave a medical presentation on anaphylaxis, while Ms. Watson described the terror of having a reaction mid-flight. Ms. Narvaez presented hundreds of letters and e-mails from food allergic families, and preliminary results from the Peanuts on Airplanes survey.

Northwest (NWA)/Delta representative, Vice President Tammy Stanoch, was receptive to the information and immediately took AFAA's policy recommendations under consideration.

Changing Places
Shortly after the meeting, Ms. Stanoch was laid off from her position from NWA/Delta.

In addition, an announcment was made that Ms. Peterson - Representative Oberstar's aide - was beginning a new position with Minnesota's new senator, Al Franken.

The employment changes by these two allies complicates further negotiations between AFAA and the airline.

Airline Response
Northwest/Delta Airlines took a few weeks to evaluate the policy recommendations before responding to AFAA in April. The response was disappointing to the AFAA delegation: while response in the initial meeting was positive, in the end the airline conceded extremely and did not acknowledge inconsistent implementation of existing policies (e.g. preboarding certain passengers).

What's Next?
With the primary contacts (Ms. Stanoch and Ms. Peterson) now displaced, and the uncompromising response from the airline despite significant media coverage and a deluge of communication from the food allergic community, AFAA has had to evaluate remaining options. What is the best means to influence change in the airline's policy? No clear plan of action is immediately obvious.

AFAA has been consulting with state and federal policy makers, analysts, and advocates, and in the meantime has been encouraging non-allergic passengers to voice their preference for the previous NWA peanut-snack free policy.

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease," explained AFAA Executive Director, Nona Narvaez. "The more people who voice their opinion, the more likely the airline will listen."

The AFAA Board of Directors has taken a number of proposals under consideration, and is in the process of deciding which steps to take next.

Difficult Road Ahead
Ms. Narvaez went on to explain the difficulties in dealing with a large business. "A huge corporation isn't as responsive to the public as a small company would be or as public policyholders are. They are not used to answering to the public, and are not easily influenced unless something seriously cuts into their revenue."

Ms. Narvaez notes that a number of letter/e-mail writers - including frequent fliers - indicated that they cancelled their airline credit cards because of the switch to peanut snacks on the flights, and some cancelled flights after the policy change.

"If a significant number of people cancel flights and credit cards - and express to the airline why they are doing so - and do so publicly - it might make a difference."

Ms. Narvaez, who worked as a policy analyst for the U.S. Congress and for the Minnesota Legislature, cautions that "this issue is not going to have a quick fix, unfortunately. Clearly it will not be easy to get concessions."

"AFAA has to continue working on this issue with policymakers, regulators, and the food allergy community, and it may take many months until a resolution is reached. As with many advocacy issues, stamina will be necessary."

Airplanes and Peanuts

As posted by Kids Allergies Blog Northwest's snack switch to peanuts promps allergy worries read Star Tribune Article.

More airpline information list of airline policies and travel tips.