Oliveoil

say a packed lunch

as if I get food airside in the airport, it could have nuts in/be made where nuts are

ditto the airline food

the websites mention taking liquids and baby food on board but don't mention whether I may take some sort of packed lunch

carmele

call the airline you book with to check... in this day and age you can't be the only one, there will be rules regulations and stipulations

C

sassie

Yes, you can take your own food on board. The only stipulation is the rule about liquids. Just make sure if there is any left by the time you reach Australia, you will either need to dispose of it or declare it.

Kooky.

I am unsure of this but you may be able to order a nut-free meal from the airline. Whether you should risk/trust it is another matter.

I know Singapore Airlines take nut allergies very seriously as I boarded a plane in Manchester last week and they announced straight away that nobody was to open any nuts they'd brought on board due to a passenger with allergies; they also served pretzels instead of peanuts.

Oliveoil

You can order food on the plane but an additional problem is that she is a fussy so and so as well so may turn her nose up at what they offer...

and I don't fancy 12 hours of hell moaning about being hungry

will check with airline when we confirm our flights (airport have not come back to me as yet)

Satch_Boogie

You can order nut friendly meals but they may be produced in a factory with nut based foods therefore we have been advised to take food along for our children. They will make an annoucement at the beginning of the flight but they can't prevent nut products being consumed by other passengers.

rabsody

This was the problem we had. Little sis got all the yummy treats and normal plane food, older sis with nut allergy was getting pieces of fruit and very plain food. We had no problems taking food on Singapore but this was a few years ago, it may have changed.

Also, on one flight (I think it was Singapore) they still served something with nuts in it (I think it was an ice cream sundae or something, sprinkled with nuts - thankfully she is not a life or death case, though still highly allergic) so whoever mentioned that you still must check everything they give you was spot on.

sniffydog

take your own picnic - we always do!!! Even moved beyond basic butties.... cheese and grapes last time!

Kooky.

I don't know what they'd have done if somebody opened a packet of nuts but they were quite adamant about it the other day, Satch - repeated the instruction a couple of times. (Put the nuts on the floor and your hands in the air, and you won't get hurt? )

Having special meals on the plane is a lottery, and I find very dependent on your departure location. I'm not ALLERGIC but I'm gluten, lactose and egg intolerant (those are the major ones). If I order lactose free, I invariably get pasta. I tried gluten-free the other week and got an omelette - and had great fun trying to assure a beautiful but slightly dim Singapore Girl that no, there is no gluten in eggs and no, not every gluten-intolerant person is allergic to eggs, no, it wasn't their fault, but could I have something else?

As it's not life or death with me, I've decided to have fun with it. On the way back I had Indian Vegetarian - curry for dinner AND for breakfast. My idea of heaven and more tasty than any indian food I've so far had in Oz.

moneypenny20

Just out of interest, how on earth do you prevent anyone else on the plane, who may have eaten nuts, from accidentally touching the allergic person? There was a lad at our school in the UK who was violently allergic and simply touching him with fingers that had had peanuts on would bring on anaphylaxis, I can't imagine how you protect them

JackTheLad

I had the same thought while reading this thread. My elder daughter loves peanut butter on toast on the weekend. We try to wash her hands and wipe her mouth and face as much as we can before we go out. However, how do we know someone at the park, shopping centre or market may be allergic to nuts so that we can stop them from accidentally touching any traces of nuts on my daughter's clothes or hands?

During the week, I simply don't give her any peanut butter just in case someone at kindy might be allergic.

Mrs JTL

Satch_Boogie

Our twin daughters are touch, airborne and ingested allergic to nuts. So if they are consumed by anyone in the aircraft, they could die. Hence why we have to carry epi-pens for them and then immediately go to hospital. Hopefully one that they will grow out of.

The airlines can give the warning numerous times but the point they were making to us was that they cannot make people not eat nut containing products. Heck, a bar of Dairy Milk can contain nut traces. In other words, if harm comes to my children because other passengers eat nut containing products and the annoucements have been made, then we have no recourse against the airline (not that I would).

As far as being careful, we cannot allow anyone to touch our daughters without hands being washed and sanitised. For example, my wife took them to Sainsbury's and put them in the trolley. About 1 minute later, the twins stopped breathing. The wife knew what to do and helped the children. The problem came from someone eating nuts/nut containing products and then holding the handle to push the trolley. The twins touched it and immediately reacted. Now we have trolley covers to cover the entire trolley for when she has to go to the shops versus using the online delivery service.

Kooky.

God that's hard - I'll never moan about milk giving me a dodgy stomach again.

My (adult) friend has a similar reaction to shellfish, which is tough considering he lives in Asia.

moneypenny20

Holy cow That must be a total nightmare however prepared you are. Many airlines automatically hand out small packets of nuts on takeoff and then throughout the flight. Don't know how you control that.

I hope they do grow out of it and soon.

rabsody

Gosh I really for you all, it must be hard on all of you. My daughter has an epipen too and if it's any consolation she seems to have grown out of a fair few of the allergies (milk, egg whites) although nuts and fish are still present but I don't think to the extent that they were (she's now 12). It's an absolute pain isn't it?!

Youngest absolutely loves nuts and sushi so it doesn't seem to run in our family