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Child’s peanut allergy sparks review of SIA’s inflight menu

SINGAPORE — Singapore Airlines (SIA) is reviewing whether to serve nuts on its flights following a child’s severe allergic reaction to the smell of peanuts on a flight to Melbourne last week.

Singapore Airlines' online advisory states it is “unable to provide a nut-free cabin or guarantee an allergy-free environment on board”. Photo: New York Times

Singapore Airlines' online advisory states it is “unable to provide a nut-free cabin or guarantee an allergy-free environment on board”. Photo: New York Times

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SINGAPORE — Singapore Airlines (SIA) is reviewing whether to serve nuts on its flights following a child’s severe allergic reaction to the smell of peanuts on a flight to Melbourne last week.

Three-year-old Marcus Daley’s eyes swelled and he began vomiting when passengers around him opened their packets of peanuts, which were served as a snack on board SQ217 last Wednesday (July 12).

His parents, who had anti-allergy medication on hand, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he had anaphylaxis — a rapid-onset, potentially fatal allergic reaction typically caused by certain food allergies and insect bites.

According to SIA, the cabin crew immediately removed all peanut packets from around the family and stopped serving peanuts in the cabin for the rest of the flight. Marcus had been served a nut-free meal on request.

“Currently, customers with nut allergies can request for a nut-free meal at the point of booking or at least 48 hours before their flight. Following the incident, we are reviewing the serving of nuts on board our flights,” added the SIA spokesperson.

Its online advisory states it is “unable to provide a nut-free cabin or guarantee an allergy-free environment on board”.

“It’s not unusual for other passengers on our flights to be served meals and snacks containing nuts or their derivatives. We also have no control over passengers consuming their own snacks or meals on board, which may contain nuts or their derivatives,” SIA added.

The Daleys, who are from Australia, have reportedly lodged a formal complaint with the airline.

Several major airlines contacted by TODAY also do not guarantee a nut-free environment.

Cathay Pacific said it “will endeavour” to provide nut-free cocktail snacks to those who submit a documented request 72 hours before departure. However, this does not extend to meals.

“We are also unable to modify the cabin environment due to individual passenger requests and cannot make general announcements requesting other passengers to refrain from eating peanuts and/or tree nuts,” it added.

Qatar Airways’ website says it “cannot guarantee nut-free meals”, and that those with severe allergies may bring their own meals aboard.

British Airways said its in-flight meals do not contain peanuts or peanut products, but they may be produced at a facility that handles them.

It is common for children with allergies to get a mild reaction, such as hives over the area of contact, when they touch or inhale an allergen, said Dr Soh Jian Yi, a consultant at the National University Hospital’s paediatric allergy, immunology and rheumatology division.

However, a mere whiff of nuts can also trigger an allergic reaction, because microscopic particles go into the air and “one-millionth of a part” can trigger a reaction, said dietitian Derrick Ong, director of Eat Right.

Mr Ong suggested completely banning nuts on flights instead of limiting such a move to the cabin with the affected passenger.

“Cabin space is very enclosed on flights. If you are in economy class and happen to be sitting really close to business class, the curtain separating the cabins will not prevent the particles from travelling across,” he said.


Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled dietitian Derrick Ong's name. We are sorry for the error.

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