Peanut Allergies on a Plane

Flying with peanut allergies is usually a scary thought - especially since the airline industry seems to think serving little packets of peanuts is necessary for a good flight experience.

On a recent Delta flight from Orlando to Detroit I witnessed Delta trying to do something good but stepping all over themselves in the process.

On this particular flight it was just me and my husband - the kids had stayed home. So I didn't have to worry about Liv's allergies while we flew.

But, as we boarded the plane the flight attendant stopped two rows in front of me to talk with a mom who was traveling with her two daughters - both of whom had a peanut allergy. The flight attendant asked if the mom had EpiPens ("yes, we have about 10 of them" she replied). And then notified the mom that she'd make an announcement that peanuts would NOT be served during the flight.

Score one for Delta.

Then, the woman seated in front of me (which would put her directly behind the allergy mom) said, loudly and with sarcasm: "Well darn. Now I can't eat my peanuts!" ... and then proceeded to laugh.

A few thoughts:
1. Food allergies are never funny. NEVER.
2. Your inability to eat a small package of peanuts during a 2 hour flight is a VERY small sacrifice to make.
3. Your statement makes you look and sound like a total JERK.

Then....

While I give props to Delta for trying to do the right thing, the announcement made by the flight attendant after takeoff went like this: "We have passengers with peanut allergies on this flight today and therefore we will not be serving peanuts. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Again. Not being able to snarf down a package of honey roasted peanuts during a flight is NOT an inconvenience. Please stop treating it as such.

I posted something about the whole "bitching about not being able to eat peanuts on a plane" on my Facebook page before take off and two hours later opened Facebook to find a full-blown argument happening on my FB page. Essentially one person said she "felt bad" for the person who couldn't eat nuts on the plane because it was their "RIGHT" to eat peanuts.

Um. NO.

No one has a right to eat peanuts on a plane. I checked the Bill of Rights .. says nothing about the right to eat peanuts while putting the lives of others in danger.

However kids with food allergies DO have a right to travel without fear of an allergic reaction at 39,000 feet. NO ONE will die from NOT eating peanuts on a plane. But kids with peanut allergies CAN die from exposure to peanuts.

And my child's life will always outweigh your supposed "need" to eat peanuts.
End of story.

I quickly deleted the entire Facebook thread because I honestly don't have the time or patience to deal with such blatant stupidity - in fact I was so angry that I didn't even read all the comments. I then posted: "Do NOT ever debate food allergies on my Facebook page." And the peanut sympathizer came back to post more snarky comments. So I unfriended her AND blocked her.

To this day I cannot understand how anyone thinks that they have a RIGHT to eat food that could injure or kill another person. Peanut allergies - and food allergies in general - are no laughing matter. There is nothing funny about food allergies and until people stop treating them like a joke actions like those of the passenger on the plane and the ex-Facebook friend will continue.

As I always say, replace the words "food allergies" with a life threatening illness or other serious disease and see how "funny" and "amusing" you sound then.

I Scream. You Scream. We All Don't Scream for Ice Cream.

I love ice cream.

Like seriously LOVE it. I could eat ice cream every night - but I don't because I'm trying to lose weight.

Olivia also LOVES ice cream, but it's a sticky and slippery slope when it comes to finding a safe place for her to enjoy her second favorite dessert (chocolate mousse is her first favorite).

Here in Toledo we used to visit a spot called Mr. Freeze - it's a seasonal place, serving soft serve cones and sundaes from March through October. We don't go there anymore because they have a rather prominent sign at the counter that basically says "if you have a peanut or tree nut allergy we don't think it's a good idea for you to eat here."

Another soft serve spot - Melo-Creme - has been better, in that we've visited there once and they wore food service gloves and took out about 10 cones to find a "safe" (read: no cross contact here!) cone for Olivia.

Currently our go-to spot is a little place up in Mayberry (in Sylvania). It's a coffee shop-slash-ice cream shop and for the most part they're good (not great) when it comes to Olivia's allergies.

Their soft serve ice cream is safe and they'll usually open a new box of sprinkles for her. But a kid can only eat so much vanilla soft serve with rainbow sprinkles before it gets really boring!

So the other day Olivia want to change it up a bit - she wanted something different. Which, when you have peanut and tree nut allergies, isn't always easy. Especially when it comes to ice cream. She wanted hot fudge on her vanilla soft serve.

That was a no-go. The hot fudge was processed in a facility that also processes peanut and tree nuts. So, I asked if they had any Hershey's chocolate syrup (since that's a safe option). Nope. No chocolate syrup. The somewhat clueless teenagers behind the counter looked at the different varieties of scoop ice cream and said "we can open a new container of one of these for her."

Um, thanks for the idea but look at the ingredients - 95 percent of the ice cream there has nuts or tree nuts as an ingredient.

Olivia, knowing the ice cream battle was lost, said "I'll just have what I always get." And then she proceeded to eat about 10 bites and threw out the rest.

Ice cream -1, Olivia - 0.

It's very frustrating for Olivia - she used to love to go out for ice cream. Now when we suggest it she rarely wants to go.

Like I said, you can only eat so much vanilla soft serve with sprinkles before it gets really OLD. 

We used to have a Cold Stone Creamery right down the road and we could go in there and they'd know Olivia (it's the peanut allergy girl!) and whoever was working would go to the back, open a brand new cotton candy ice cream, get a clean bowl and scoop, and mix in chocolate shavings and sprinkles for Olivia. Sadly the store closed last year. :( 

I think our favorite ice cream shop is Scammell's Corner Surf Shop and Ice Cream Parlor in Nags Head, North Carolina (in the Outer Banks). Not only does the owner sing as he scoops ice cream but he has ALL THE PEANUT AND TREE NUT FREE ICE CREAM in ONE cooler! It's totally separate from the other ice cream flavors. Pure genius. And, he always uses a clean scoop to scoop out the ice cream. AND he has Hershey's syrup and hot fudge for the ice cream.

I'm not ashamed to say we visited there about four times on our most recent OBX vacation. Also, we totally need a Toledo-based Scammell's. I'm just sayin'.

I wish I could open a totally peanut- and tree nut-free ice cream parlor where we could serve all nut-free and peanut-free ice cream with safe toppings. It could be connected to my nut-free and peanut-free bakery and restaurant.

Safe ice cream and cookies and cakes for everyone!