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.

No Nuts = NO Nuts

Over the weekend Olivia was part of a ballet production here in town.

A few days before dress rehearsal a set of production notes were sent out and in those notes was a sentence (in bright red text and all caps) that basically said do not bring any kind of nuts backstage for snacks.

This directive was due to the fact that there are a couple dancers (Olivia included) who are allergic to peanuts and/or tree nuts.

So...the first night of rehearsal I saw at least one dancer eating a peanut butter snack. 

Night two of rehearsal one of Liv's friends came running upstairs to tell me there was an open bag of almonds backstage in the dressing room. So...we told the production manager about it and she quickly went downstairs to repeat the NO NUT directive.

My one thought was: SERIOUSLY? And then I thought "Can people just not read"? ... or do they just not care? And I decided it was mostly the latter.

Parents of kids without food allergies see the "don't send nuts" directive and either choose to ignore it or think it only means PEANUTS. Or (again) maybe they're just clueless and don't care.

Over the course of the weekend I had to tell another dancer she couldn't eat a doughnut that was coated in peanuts (!!!!!) and she then threw out TWO MORE doughnuts that were swimming in nuts (WTH?) and then ANOTHER dancer said "Can I eat pistachios? They aren't peanuts."

Um....NO. You can't eat pistachios.
Or peanuts.
Or hazelnuts.
Or Nutella.
Or almonds.
Or walnuts.
Or anything that is a peanut and/or tree nut. 

Honestly people - if your child is involved in dance or theater or sports or anything where food might be involved and you get a note sent home that asks you to NOT send in any snacks that contain/might contain peanuts and/or tree nuts please FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY listen to that request and honor it.

No one is trying to deny your child's God-given right (insert eye roll here) to eat a PB&J or a bag of almonds. We're just simply requesting that it isn't done in close proximity to our kid who could get sick (or even die) from a reaction to said PB&J or bag of almonds.

You think we're kidding?
Watch this video and then reconsider sending those peanut and tree nut snacks.

Baseball Games and Food Allergies

Yesterday we made our annual trek to Progressive Field in Cleveland to watch the Indians play.

Baseball games are a fun tradition but they're also very stressful for kids with peanut allergies.

Normally when we go to the game Olivia will get a hot dog and that's about it. She can't eat the ice cream. Or Dippin' Dots. Or the popcorn.

Yesterday though we were in the "club" level which meant unlimited food and beverages (talk about the best way to see a baseball game!).

Olivia was very excited about the hot dog stand - and the buns were safe too! (Buns are one of those 'must-always-check' items because sometimes sesame seeds are listed). And the buffet in the club lounge had salad, which is one of her favorites. And one of the other food stands was a "make your own" snow cone so Liv made THREE snow cones during the game.

The one thing about baseball games that isn't fun is the overwhelming presence of peanuts. And on the club level at Progressive Field there were BARRELS of peanuts - all self-serve. Fill a bag with peanuts as many times as you wanted and drop the shells everywhere.

To say this stressed Liv out would be an understatement.

We ended up sitting at the top row of our section (due to the fact that I'm currently on crutches) and she actually said "Mommy, I love sitting here because no one can eat peanuts behind us and throw the shells on the floor."

Eventually though we had to move to our "regular" seats further down in the section which immediately stressed Liv out. As soon as we sat down she saw the guy behind us shoving peanuts in his face throwing the shells all over the ground and she burst into tears.

She was seriously scared.

And then we saw the backs of the seats were coated in little bits and pieces of peanut shells, including on the cup holders. This meant Liv couldn't put her beverage in the cup holder without risking touching peanut shells.

We didn't stay in those seats very long. I wasn't going to make Liv sit there and be scared.

Whether an allergic reaction was going to happen or not isn't the issue. My kid was scared and that was enough to make us move back inside the lounge.

I just wish that baseball stadiums - major and minor league - had a designated "nut free" zone for families dealing with food allergies. Sure some of the teams have "nut free" nights but one or two nights during a season just isn't enough when the rest of game are full of peanuts and shells all over the ground.

I'd really like to see these stadiums work with food allergy families and national organizations to develop safe zones for kids and adults with peanut allergies.

Allergens Show Up in the Strangest Spots

As a parent of a child with food allergies I spend a lot of time reading labels.

I'm talking about A LOT OF TIME.

If you happen to see my in the grocery store it's a good bet that you'll find me reading a label.

Food labels are a tough nut to crack sometimes (sorry). There's no rhyme or reason really when it comes to food labeling. Sometimes allergens are listed, sometimes they're not.

The FDA requires that the top eight allergens are listed - milk, egg, peanut, tree nut, wheat, soy, fish, crustacean shellfish - but other than that it's sort of a free for all. There's no real requirement about the whole "manufactured in a facility that processes" labeling.

Which is why parents of kids with food allergies read EVERY SINGLE LABEL.

And if something says "processed in a facility" or "may contain" or anything of that sort and those words are followed by peanuts or tree nuts, it's going to be off limits for Olivia.

The hardest ingredient right now is sesame seed because it doesn't have to be listed at all.

Why?

Because it's NUMBER 9 on the FDA's list of top allergens and only the TOP 8 MUST BE LISTED.

Yep, that's right. There's not a top 10 list of allergens that must be listed - there's a top 8 list. And sesame is number 9.

Things that contain or may contain sesame seeds include bread crumbs, most of the Pepperidge Farm breads, bagels, hummus, Asian food, Mediterranean food, crackers, some pretzels, some chips, and the list goes on.

And it's not always food that is the culprit. Last December I discovered the Lip Smackers brand lip gloss is made with sesame seed oil (WTH?).

So the label reading goes as far as beauty products, lotion, shampoo, makeup, etc.

You just never know where those pesky allergens are going to show up!

Dining Out with Food Allergies

After Olivia was diagnosed with food allergies, our dining out routine changed dramatically.

Gone were the days where we could say "hey, let's try out that new restaurant" without a second thought about the menu.

Now we have a running list of where we can go and where we can't go. Olivia will never eat at Five Guys. She likely won't learn how amazing sushi can be. Hibachi restaurants are off limits. Chick-Fil-A is a no-go. Burger King is off the list.

Why so many "no" restaurants, you ask? Let me explain....

Five Guys fries in peanut oil and has boxes of peanuts at the door. It would be like walking through a mine field. Sushi = sesame seeds which = cross contact. Same with the hibachi restaurants. The last time we ate at one Olivia was sick the rest of the night (this was B.A. - before allergies). Chick-Fil-A also has a peanut oil issue. And have you seen the buns at Burger King? It's sesame seed heaven.

Nope. Nope. And nope.

Now our restaurant routine is more like "Hey, we should go here." To which I normally respond "I'm not sure if it's safe for Olivia. I'll have to call/check the menu."

I'm a big menu reader. And since Olivia's diagnosis my eyes immediately dart to words like "sesame seeds," "coconut shrimp," and "[insert peanut and/or tree nut] encrusted whatever."

Who would have thought that words as innocuous as "sesame," "coconut," "pecans," and "hazelnut" would become my red flag words? 

If we're dining somewhere new the first thing I do is tell the waitress "My daughter has a peanut, tree nut, and sesame seed allergy so please inform the kitchen of this so they can ensure there is no cross contact." I also make sure that the food isn't fried in peanut oil. And if I see things like coconut shrimp on the menu I know we can't order anything fried. The risk just isn't worth it.

Recently on vacation we stopped to dine at a Mexican restaurant in West Virginia and when I asked the waiter if the tortilla chips were fried in peanut oil his response was "Cheese dip?" It took several attempts at asking the same question (and getting the same "cheese dip?" answer) before we learned the chips were safe.

Sometimes food allergies are lost in translation.

We have a running list of "safe" places for Liv here in Toledo (and a list of "no way Jose!" places too). 

We love dining at Ciao! for special occasions like birthdays - they are always receptive to my "allergy instructions." The same is true of Mancy's Italian. Olive Garden is a good spot and Liv recently dined at Red Lobster with her dad and they gave her their "allergy menu" which was pretty awesome.

We frequent our local Fricker's for wings. Subway is a good bet for sandwiches (in turn we avoid the local bagel shop because there are sesame seeds everywhere).

Basically if I walk into a restaurant and tell the waitress/waiter about Olivia's food allergies and they (1) write it down and (2) come back with updates from the chef about what is safe/not safe I am willing to add that spot to our "safe to visit" list.

Of course menus can always change and ingredients can and do change so it's a good idea to ALWAYS tell the servers about Liv's allergies.

And sometimes I need to do some investigation before allowing Olivia to visit a restaurant - including reading the menu if it is online or even visiting in person to see what's what. 

Dining out with food allergies is challenging but it can be done. One of the things I'm going to do with this blog is short reviews of local restaurants with a good/bad rating when it comes to allergies.

Happy dining!