Does a food allergy have priority over dietary restrictions? That question popped into my head as I sat at a gate in the airport recently prior to boarding an airplane for a flight.
Does a Food Allergy Have Priority Over Dietary Restrictions?
An announcement from an agent prior to boarding the aircraft informed everyone in the gate area that one of the passengers who was boarding the airplane for our flight is allergic to peanuts and requested that all passengers aboard this airplane kindly not consume peanuts or any food that contains peanuts for the duration of the flight.
Because the announcement occurred moments before the boarding process began and the gate was located at the end of the terminal, passengers did not have enough time to shop for any food products that did not contain peanuts. The flight was greater than three hours in duration; and no meals were being served aboard the airplane — only snacks which mainly consisted of carbohydrates.
I overheard one passenger complain that her dietary restrictions require that she consume as few carbohydrates as possible — and the snacks that she brought with her contained peanuts and nut products. Suddenly not being able to eat anything for the duration of the flight was apparently not an option. Should she be forced to not eat the snacks that she packed with her because of the peanut allergy of one passenger?
Final Boarding Call
Compromise is one thing…
…but in this case, one passenger should not have the ability to control or demand what other passengers can do — especially if any fellow passengers have dietary restrictions to which they are attempting to adhere. To do so is selfish — especially when the chances of the passenger with the allergy go into anaphylactic shock from the presence of peanuts nearby is highly unlikely.
Although people should have the chance to travel if they want to do so, if a person is so allergic to a food ingredient that all other passengers aboard the airplane are virtually required to refrain from eating it during the entire flight — especially if some of those fellow passengers would be significantly inconvenienced to the point of not being able to adhere to their own dietary needs — then perhaps that person should either travel via alternate methods…
…or consider not traveling at all.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
