Added Note from Lianne (No Nut Traveler):
This testimonial and others like it, are why I recommend NOT accepting any airline food- no matter how long the flight. Even IF the food is labeled safe, let us remember mistakes happen on the ground everyday. In the air, if things turn for the worse there is NO ER. I always travel with carry on of non-perishable food/snacks. IMHO no airline food is ever worth the risk. Please read about a reader’s recent experience below. Please also note Epinephrine is the only treatment that will stop anaphylaxis. Please discuss action plan with physician before flying.
Anyone with severe nut allergies should AVOID Air France AT ALL COSTS!!! This airline does not take nut allergies seriously and is incredibly rude to passengers who express concerns for their own health and safety.
On my flight from Paris to Los Angeles the crew served peanut chips to the entire plane, which caused me to have a mild reaction. Fortunately, I always bring Benadryl with me when I travel, which saved me a lot of discomfort in this instance. However, the real outrage came with the incredible rudeness and insensitivity of the flight attendant.
After seeing that peanuts were served on board, I became concerned about the possibility of nut allergens in my food. While my nut allergy is severe, I have never had issues eating foods marked as containing “trace amounts”. I asked the flight attendant if my meal contained nuts and he became immediately frustrated and responded, “I don’t have any way of knowing something like that.” I explained that I have a life-threatening nut allergy and he reluctantly said he would check. When he got back to me his English was not good enough to explain whether or not there were allergens in the food (let me emphasize that is on an international flight to the U.S.). Instead he told me conflicting answers that left me clueless as to whether I would be putting myself at risk by eating the meal. Then to top it all off, he snapped at me that “it was my fault” and if I wanted a nut-free meal I should have ordered it before the flight.
At no point did he offer to find another meal without nuts. His attitude was extremely rude and arrogant. The more senior flight attendant that followed up after him was less concerned about my allergy than defending the behavior of his colleague. I have never seen such unprofessional behavior from a flight crew in my ENTIRE LIFE, and I travel very frequently. Not to mention all this happened after I dealt with over 20 HOURS of delays from AirFrance. I had to stay overnight in two hotels and travel for over 40 hours on what should have been a 20 hour trip. I ended up swapping Air France horror stories with the other passengers the rest of the flight– even a close friend of mine recently had a terrible experience with them that included multiple delays and lost baggage. I have yet to hear anything good about this airline and would NEVER fly with them in the future. Again, while this airline is awful in general, I would especially advise those with severe food allergies to choose another airline that takes life threatening health matters seriously.
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