Singapore Airlines to review serving nuts on flights after toddler has allergic react

[kapitan]

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...r-has-allergic

You can forget about your warm nuts served in a small dish.... or even satay sauce...

[loldude333]

This is a delicate issue. I did not know that even being in the presence of nuts can cause the allergic reaction. I for one wouldn't mind nuts being removed for the sake of people who could die. And even better if they were replaced with other more delicious snacks heheh.

[SQ228]

In my job I have to have training of up to 3 hours in length every 3 years regarding anaphylaxis and follow-up training in the use of an EpiPen every 6 months. That is simply because I work for an educational institution.

I can see two sides to this story, which has been covered extensively in local Melbourne media and Australian national media. SQ's response hasn't won it many new customers, but I can understand that being based in a country where peanuts are so commonplace and enjoyed throughout many different foods, it might be hard to understand what all the fuss is about.

Melbourne is an allergy hotspot in many ways. Hayfever levels here are among the world's worst. We also had two incidents that occurred in Melbourne schools where students died. One of the incidents was sheer stupidity on the part of the school and completely avoidable (they didn't check a boy on a camp had a peanut allergy and packed nothing but satay to eat for an evening meal at a remote camp site), whereas the other was accidental but happened to a very young child. The media storm around this second incident resulted in a total over-the-top kneejerk reaction which in my view is unnecessary and driven mainly by emotion, not rational risk management.

Having said that, I've for many years been perplexed as to why SQ still liberally scatters its Y cabins with peanuts barely 20 minutes into a long haul flight. The tiny fragments become airborne and are moved quickly around the cabin by the air systems. Unlike when on the ground, where you can just walk off from the nuts, or if an anaphylactic shock occurs, call an ambulance, the interior of a plane scheduled to keep flying for another 12 or more hours is not a place where I would take such risks.

[wlgspotter]

In my job I have to have training of up to 3 hours in length every 3 years regarding anaphylaxis and follow-up training in the use of an EpiPen every 6 months. That is simply because I work for an educational institution.

I can see two sides to this story, which has been covered extensively in local Melbourne media and Australian national media. SQ's response hasn't won it many new customers, but I can understand that being based in a country where peanuts are so commonplace and enjoyed throughout many different foods, it might be hard to understand what all the fuss is about.

Melbourne is an allergy hotspot in many ways. Hayfever levels here are among the world's worst. We also had two incidents that occurred in Melbourne schools where students died. One of the incidents was sheer stupidity on the part of the school and completely avoidable (they didn't check a boy on a camp had a peanut allergy and packed nothing but satay to eat for an evening meal at a remote camp site), whereas the other was accidental but happened to a very young child. The media storm around this second incident resulted in a total over-the-top kneejerk reaction which in my view is unnecessary and driven mainly by emotion, not rational risk management.

Having said that, I've for many years been perplexed as to why SQ still liberally scatters its Y cabins with peanuts barely 20 minutes into a long haul flight. The tiny fragments become airborne and are moved quickly around the cabin by the air systems. Unlike when on the ground, where you can just walk off from the nuts, or if an anaphylactic shock occurs, call an ambulance, the interior of a plane scheduled to keep flying for another 12 or more hours is not a place where I would take such risks.

Thank you SQ228 for your very detailed and educational insight into how widespread these issues really are. We do have friends (who ironically are also from Melbourne!) who also have a peanut allergy, although I don't know the extent and seriousness of their allergic reaction to peanuts. When I first read the news I had the same thought as many other people - that someone with peanut allergy can be so affected even by being in the presence of peanuts (and peanut products)... Your explanation, especially the last paragraph, makes perfect sense and I now understand what could have happened in this instance, so THANK YOU very much for your very detailed post. I can imagine the "uproar" this would have caused in the local Melbourne / Australian media. I'm watching "with interest" from this side of the Tasman as news of it haven't filtered through to us yet, but I'm sure it is a matter of time!

Here's wishing that the toddler makes a speedy recovery from this incident...

[SINFJ]

On an aside, why blame the parent when it is the onus of the pax to highlight his allergy

[zilchster]

Would provide a good excuse for SQ to cut the peanuts from economy altogether. And I doubt they will be replaced with more delicious snacks except maybe in the upfront cabins.

I think the Satay sauce with peanuts is still fine. It's the smell of peanuts that triggers the allergies?

On one hand, SIA is still predominantly an Asian carrier. It is NOT an Australian airline and I don't think it needs to cater to the whims of Australia.

[scooby5]

On an aside, why blame the parent when it is the onus of the pax to highlight his allergy

Not quite sure if you meant how it reads..... the onus is definitely on the parent when the passenger is only three years old. That said, they did everything correctly, telling SQ their son had an allergy.

On one hand, SIA is still predominantly an Asian carrier. It is NOT an Australian airline and I don't think it needs to cater to the whims of Australia.

You cater to the whims of those that pay the bills and many to/from OZ take SQ so it's something they need to take seriously when trying also to fend off competition.

I read Qantas and I think AirNZ even have flights/routes that are completely nut free so, want to talk "caring" or "competitive" albeit regarding a smaller number of people with allergies? How an airline tackles the problem and PR behind it influences more people and is more important than the few physically affected by the allergy itself.

On a completely different side of the same topic, where was peanut allergy when I and many of us were younger, in the 60s and 70s? I do believe that not introducing nuts, real milk (lactose) etc. to children when really young can and does impact their resistance to the allergens contained within them. A bit like measles where, in theory, you get it once and never again because your body has built resistance to it.

The local doctor interviewed here said Caucasians are more susceptible than Asians........maybe because there is more nuts in the diet from a young age?

[flyguy]

no more satay with its peanut satay sauce in F and J classes if it goes through to ban nuts onboard. However even if its ban it does not prevent passengers who happen to bring along nuts for snacks onboard of just when they bought in the transit/duty free area to munch onboard.

[zilchster]

If I were SIA, I'll use this as an excuse to cut the nuts as snacks once and for all, and not offer a replacement to this.

Personally, I don't care about the peanuts.

But this whole I'm fragile as a egg shell thing of the minority has to stop at some point. What happens if the person is allergic to seafood and the smell of seafood. What does the airline do, ban seafood onboard?

What happens if every egg shell minority has this problem...are airlines expected to cater to their whim and fancy.

And we can have obese people asking for another seat on board since it's their right, no?

What does it end?

At the end of the day air travel is a mass market form of transportation which cater to the masses, not individuals who have thin egg shells. Perhaps they should avoid a form of mass market transport and go for private jets.

If there is to be no consumption of nuts onboard, it should be on a case by case basis.

[Jumbojet Lover]

I'm not sure when it happened, but the US carriers I've flown seemed to have removed peanuts from their menu and snack offerings. It's not something that I miss, to be honest, since they serve crackers, biscotti or stroopwaffle cookies in its place.

I can't remember which airline it was but on one flight I was on years ago, there were a few announcements by cabin crew telling passengers that there was someone onboard with an allergic reaction to peanuts so if passengers brought any peanut products onboard, to cooperate and not open it. The airline, knowing the passenger's reaction beforehand, had proactively removed peanut products from the catering. Reactions can get really severe from peanut dust particles, and in a pressurized tube it's a little difficult to get fresh air, so I can understand why an airline would remove it. It's a matter of life and death for people with peanut allergies, and relatively common, affecting maybe 0.5-1% of the population.

[scooby5]

.....there were a few announcements by cabin crew telling passengers that there was someone onboard with an allergic reaction to peanuts so if passengers brought any peanut products onboard, to cooperate and not open it. The airline, knowing the passenger's reaction beforehand, had proactively removed peanut products from the catering.

It's also a legal position in some countries whereby if a risk is brought to your attention and you do nothing to eliminate it, you are responsible, solely, for consequences. In the US, for example, you can imagine the consequences of "going against better knowledge."

As in Singapore, ignorance is not an excuse.

[SINFJ]

Not quite sure if you meant how it reads..... the onus is definitely on the parent when the passenger is only three years old. That said, they did everything correctly, telling SQ their son had an allergy.

That was pun intended. We did not know what transpired between the parent and SQ. There wasn't an indication on how bad the tolerance on the nut allergy. Perhaps SQ would have made the decision to uplift replacements snacks or not at all if they had know. Doesn't sound like something they would knowingly do if they already have the information. This is tenable to bad PR and a potential legal suit.

[icn.sg]

Can't help thinking about this clip when I read this news...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsdfLwiSRaM

[SQ228]

I think the Satay sauce with peanuts is still fine. It's the smell of peanuts that triggers the allergies?

On one hand, SIA is still predominantly an Asian carrier. It is NOT an Australian airline and I don't think it needs to cater to the whims of Australia.

The articles being published are fairly generalised. Satay sauce is fine as I understand (although I'm not a medical specialist), provided it is not fed to a passenger with the allergy. With a sauce, the moisture and stickiness is holding the peanuts within it. Dry roasted peanuts break into small fragments and there is little to contain them once picked up by air movement. Every single passenger in a Y cabin opening peanuts and eating them simultaneously is about the worst possible situation you can set up for an affected person, other than feeding them food that contains peanuts directly.

With regard to "whims", I presented you with a balanced argument. We have far more peanut allergies in this country due to a greatly reduced exposure to these nuts across the population. A life threatening medical condition is not a whim. I'm not in any way condoning the overreactions- in fact they impact negatively on me in my working life. I don't, however, want to see a person lose their life to a snack food.

Certainly, SQ is based in Asia. Between SQ and its regional MI, they fly 139 flights per week to Australia and we as a nation are providing a major income stream to SQ. As a comparison, flights to the US number 40 per week for a population more than ten times our size. SQ couldn't survive financially without Australia. If an Australian passenger were to die from an anaphylactic incident involving peanuts, the resulting negative publicity would put a lot of Singaporean jobs at risk. Just ask MH.

[Avenger777]

I like my peanuts....not fair for anyone else. I guess i'll start bringing my own nuts if SQ bands it..........