Nut-free zone ordered on Air Canada

[Adam1100]

...

[Widow]

Some of you should read the decision from the CTA posted on the first page of the the thread. The CTA found that Air Canada did not have a policy in place to accommodate people with this (CTA determined) disability. Lack of policy led to one captain actually insisting that a pax sign a liability waiver before being allowed to fly.

Pax with a disability of any kind have an obligation to inform the service provider in advance so that attempts can be made to accommodate. And service providers have an obligation to have a policy with respect to how such disabilities will be accommodated.

[Hot Fuel]

Simple solution, don't serve peanuts. Air Canada's policy becomes we don't serve peanuts...added benefit to Air Canada, it helps the bottomline because they no longer have to purchase and stock peanuts.

[2R]

Banning nuts on a plane will not offer the protection that someone who could die to exposure to nuts needs to be safe.
If i walked through a Georgia bar that serves peanuts by the free bucket load then i walk onto your plane How safe would that be ?If i spread organic peanut butter on my bagle and do not wash my hands and get on the plane how safe would you be ?
To expect others to live in your miserable sterile bubble is unrealistic and not "practicable' in the real world of recycled air in modern transport.Just look what happens when a TB infected person travels on a plane.
As the old boxing coach used to say "Protect yourself at all times"

[_dwj_]

Sorry to push this issue Ettw, but the percentage of people who will die from inhaling the odor of a peanut is less than 1%.

No, actually it is zero as far as I can tell. Nobody has ever died or had a serious reaction from inhaling peanut odour, and a placebo controlled trial shows no reaction from inhaling peanut butter fumes in people who have a severe peanut allergy.

This is just a hysterical over-reaction from people who get their science from places like Oprah.

[Meatservo]

I don't mean to sour the discussion by failing to post something intolerant, ignorant, or cruel, but what exactly is the ingredient in peanuts that causes the reaction? They seem so innocuous.

[Indanao]

She wants all nuts banned from all airlines.

Good grief...some people need to give their heads a shake.

Yeah, how will T.C. ever get onboard?

[Indanao]

Seriously, how Egalitarian should we become? No nuts on buses, trains, theaters, restaurants, shopping malls, schools, playgrounds, ....etc. etc.. Thought it was all about Utilitarian, everything else in our society is supposedly geared that way. And nuts are healthy. (....well, in a literal sense. )

[Doc]

I think, everyone should be forced to fly in sandals and a thong. They should undergo a rectal exam for stray nuts. Nuts should be limited to to two per male passenger. Women with nuts shall be refused boarding.
How screwed up will this industry be allowed to get?
Stop serving peanuts. Is that really too simple? Other than hosing the passengers down with hose canons.......hence my "thong" idea. That's got to beat the jokes by certain WJ flight attendants....

Okay, for fat guys.......Speedos and cowboy boots!? Fat chicks? Glad kitchen catchers and Crocks!

Aw, have I offended somebody's sensitives? Boohoo.

[_dwj_]

I don't mean to sour the discussion by failing to post something intolerant, ignorant, or cruel, but what exactly is the ingredient in peanuts that causes the reaction? They seem so innocuous.

It's one of the proteins - for some reason the immune system in certain people attacks this protein because it thinks it is a pathogen. Certain proteins are more likely to cause allergic reactions, I'm not sure why.

[snoopy]

meatservo, I don't know of the scientific validity, however one of the articles linked to on the previous page had this to say:

"Peanut allergies just like any other food allergies are caused by the mistake made by the immune system. Allergic cascade is what we call to the body’s response of allergic person to peanut protein. At first encounter of the human body to peanut protein, no allergic reaction will take effect. During the eating of peanuts though sometimes just by skin contact or inhaling peanut fumes, the body or the immune system recognizes the peanut protein as a harmful substance. To be able to overcome the suspected harmful substance, the body will produce IgE or Immunoglobulin E against the peanut protein. Once the second encounter occurs, the Ige from the mast cells will produce chemicals including histamines that cause the allergic reaction. For peanut-allergic patients, the peanut itself is not harmful, but the way the body reacts to the peanut protein.

Peanut allergies are triggered very easily. For some reason, a very small amount of peanut protein, less than any other protein causing allergic reactions, triggers the allergic reaction. That is why peanut-allergic persons often experience allergic reactions due to cross contamination. Other products that are made in the same processors or machines where the peanuts are processed may cause patients with peanut allergy have an allergic reaction. For sensitive patients, peanut allergy reactions can also be triggered by direct contact to a person who just has eaten a peanut product.

from: http://chef21blog.com/peanut-allergy-–- ... d-to-know/

Cheers,
Kirsten B.

[Jaques Strappe]

For the record. Air Canada has not served "peanuts" for a very long time. This is not about peanuts but severe life threatening allergies to nuts in general.

I am frustrated that Air Canada always seems to be the favorite target and is forced to operate under a special set of rules which nobody else need adhere to, however this is not just a simple allergy, it is not a case of a sneezing fit. It is life or death and this allergy is on the rise.

Personally, I would think airlines would embrace the policy as it will hopefully decrease the risk and cost associated with diversions prompted by someone expiring in the cabin. Sad to say but if you can convince them of a cost benefit, the policy will be in place quickly.

I am really surprised by the number of "suck it up" comments when it involves a life and death situation. This is not another case of "I am really fat so you must sell me two seats for the price of one", yet another demand placed on Air Canada a few years ago.

I am lucky, I have no serious allergies and I am sure most people won't mind giving up their cashews, so someone else may live.

Flat out however, if the courts were actually serious about this and not just paying lip service, they would have placed this restriction on all Canadian carriers rather than just going after their favorite scape goat. This, I see as a glaring admission of do-nothingness.

[SeptRepair]

Has anyone died from a peanut allergy reaction even after they have been administered epinephrine? I figured the allergy was only deadly if you don't have an epi pen handy. Anyone in the know?

[Conquest Driver]

I figured the allergy was only deadly if you don't have an epi pen handy. Anyone in the know?

An Epi pen is better than nothing, but it's only a treatment, not a cure.

Not sure if people have died after one (and maybe the only) Epi pen usage, but I suspect they have. I also heard of one guy who ended up with permanent brain damage. Not sure if he had a pen or not.

[Doc]

Simple solution, don't serve peanuts. Air Canada's policy becomes we don't serve peanuts...added benefit to Air Canada, it helps the bottomline because they no longer have to purchase and stock peanuts.

Oh sure, Hot Fuel.....come up with a simple solution, that makes sense! Smarty Pants!

[_dwj_]

An Epi pen is better than nothing, but it's only a treatment, not a cure.

Not sure if people have died after one (and maybe the only) Epi pen usage, but I suspect they have. I also heard of one guy who ended up with permanent brain damage. Not sure if he had a pen or not.

Yes, people have still died after being injected with adrenaline, so it's better to be safe.

For sensitive patients, peanut allergy reactions can also be triggered by direct contact to a person who just has eaten a peanut product.

This is simply NOT TRUE. You must ingest the protein in order to have a severe reaction. Touching the protein only ever causes a very mild, local reaction on the skin and is nothing to worry about.

Certainly it is sensible to take precautions, but we need to look at the facts and not old wives tales. It looks like Air Canada just didn't have a very good lawyer in this case. Perhaps they can't afford it

[snoopy]

Fair enough _dwj_, but those are not my words, rather a quote from an article. Some people are curious for more information on the allergy and that is the first step towards understanding. I simply posted some articles I found on the Internet after a quick search. Do you have any better "factual" articles you can post links to so that our questions may be answered? As I said in an earlier post, controversy abounds over this allergy - which is further muddied by conflicting information - both "facts", and opinions.

Cheers,
Kirsten B.

[iflyforpie]

My son is "big needle" allergic to peanuts and if he was to come in contact with a part of a nut because someone sneezed in a row behind him after eating a peanut it would be a death sentense of over an ocean somewhere.

You're probably more likely to have a multiple engine failure over the ocean (has happened before several times) and way way more likely to get run over by an overzealous cab driver in front of the terminal than for the above event even to happen, to say nothing about your son dying as a result of it.


Give me a break!

PS:

For all those young parents/soon-to-be parents: let your kids play in dirt. Let them eat it. I don't know of a single kid who ever died from dirt, but I know of several kids who grew up with severe allergies most likely because their parents tried to keep them too clean.

[_dwj_]

Fair enough _dwj_, but those are not my words, rather a quote from an article. Some people are curious for more information on the allergy and that is the first step towards understanding. I simply posted some articles I found on the Internet after a quick search. Do you have any better "factual" articles you can post links to so that our questions may be answered? As I said in an earlier post, controversy abounds over this allergy - which is further muddied by conflicting information - both "facts", and opinions.

Cheers,
Kirsten B.

No problem. Unfortunately there is an awful lot of crap on the internet and it is sometimes hard to tell what to believe. And like MSG, this seems to be a subject where a lot of people believe an untrue urban myth. If you want to get correct info you need to look exclusively in peer-reviewed journals. These days it's pretty easy to do this - you can just search on google scholar.

Here is some relevant research:

http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-prev ... ze=largest
http://www.jacionline.org/article/PIIS0 ... 0/fulltext
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cac ... 0aOcCOKPKA

(The last one isn't peer reviewed, but it seems to be a very good summary of what we've been talking about and the guy is a professor at Harvard Medical School!)

Oh, and Westjet serves Bits & Bites, which say on the packet "may contain traces of nuts".

[Indanao]

As bmc said it's not that simple. I know a woman with a severe nut allergy; she doesn't have to eat them to have a reaction, she just has to be in proximity to them or someone who has eaten them.

Does she stand in elevators? With a handicap such as that there are things that one cannot do - perhaps international flight.

[Donald]

Happened on an Air Mexicana flight:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/ ... lergy.html

Woman with peanut allergy forced to take another flight

A Calgary woman with a severe peanut allergy is upset that she was asked to leave a flight from Mexico this month after asking the flight attendants not to serve the snack to passengers.

Juliane Braren, who has taken about 50 flights in her lifetime, said she has always asked the attendants on her flights not to serve peanuts because she has had a severe allergy since birth.

But the Mexicana flight crew wouldn't change the snack menu and asked her to take a different flight, she said.

"It makes me very angry — very, very angry," she said. "It actually hurts me. It hurts me that people could be so insensitive and just not care about other people."

Mexicana organized a flight on another airline for Braren to return to Canada.

An airline spokesperson said changes to meals and snacks have to be organized in advance.

WestJet and Air Canada do not serve peanuts on flights.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/ ... z0gwXOaLwi

[Inverted2]

I think she is "nuts". Showing up at the airport and then saying she has a peanut allergy and then expecting the airline and all the other 100+ passengers to accomodate her like that?

[Invertago]

avcanada needs a nut free zone

[kevenv]

avcanada needs a nut free zone

There wouldn't be anyone left to post.

[iflyforpie]

Happened on an Air Mexicana flight:

That's the problem (or the solution) right there.

In the land of mañana, they just don't give a rat's ass about fragile people from El Norte and their special needs...