Posted on 07/10/2018 2:55:38 PM PDT by SMGFan
Southwest Airlines will discontinue its peanut snacks effective August 1 to accommodate travelers with allergies. The company confirmed the announcement in an email Tuesday to The Hill. Peanuts forever will be part of Southwests history and DNA. However, to ensure the best on-board experience for everyone, especially for customers with peanut-related allergies, weve made the difficult decision to discontinue serving peanuts on all flights beginning August 1, Southwest said in the statement.
We hope that our free pretzels (and the wonderful portfolio of free snacks on longer flights), served along with our legendary Southwest Hospitality, will please customers who might be nostalgic or sad to see peanuts go, the company added.
Our ultimate goal is to create an environment where all customersincluding those with peanut-related allergiesfeel safe and welcome on every Southwest flight.
The airline currently serves other free snacks, including various chips and cookies. Southwest said the airline would still permit individuals with a peanut allergy to board aircrafts in advance so they may clean seats and trays. Travels with the allergy should continue to disclose it when purchasing flights, Southwest said.
I was just on United (haven’t flown in ages) and was surprised to see the same thing.
The prevalence of self-reported peanut allergy in this cohort of US children not selected for any disease was 4.6% (Table 2), higher than previously reported estimates of self-reported peanut allergy among US children of comparable age (Table 1). Similarly, we observed a 5.0% prevalence of clinical peanut allergy according to sIgE-based criteria that previously resulted in a 2.7% prevalence among comparably aged children in the 20052006 NHANES study.7 Within Project Viva, the 4.9% prevalence of peanut allergy defined by both sensitization and prescribed epinephrine auto-injector was similar in magnitude to the estimates defined by self-reported allergy and sIgE-based clinical allergy criteria.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4149917/
Please note I am NOT minimizing these issues.
I am sure that I, growing up in the 60s and 70s never heard of peanut allergies nor autism. I know they are unrelated but I note their growth seem to have been concurrent. It is also interesting to note that child endangerment in general seems to have also risen (no facts or data — these are off the cuff observations).
I am not alone in asking what the heck is causing all this? Are they related? Is it pollution? Water? Rising expectations?
Anyway I don’t care that much about losing peanuts on flights (I assume they will substitute pretzels which is what AA did eons ago).
I think it’s parents being so paranoid of germs, they literally make their kids grow up in a “plastic bubble” so their immune systems never totally develop.
My last flight was in 2003. I havent been to an international airport in 6 years. I think Im better for it. But I would be pissed to not get peanuts.
ML/NJ
I might fly more now, since I know longer have to sit next to someone with peanut breath for 4 hrs.
There’s no doubt that allergies are on the rise and in part due to our overly clean environment.
However, while peanut allergies were not known when I was growing up, it was common to hear about some kid who *choked to death on peanuts*.
I wonder now if, in many cases, that was an undiagnosed peanut allergy and subsequent anaphylaxis and they just didn’t know what it was.
Cause these days, you just don’t hear about kids *choking to death on a peanut*.
Let the Vax/Anti-Vax war commence.
There’s truth to that.
Exposure to bacteria at a young age trains the immune system.
Studies have shown that country kids have fewer allergies than city kids, that the youngest in a family has fewer than the oldest, and that dairy farm kids, who usually drink well water, raw milk, and play about the not so clean barnyard, have the fewest of all.
Considering how life threatening peanut allergies can be to someone sensitive, it’s probably a good idea to not hand them out in a confined place with no access, or no quick access, to emergency medical care.
It’s not about allergies, it’s about cheap, cheap, cheap pretzels.
Southwest has the best free snacks. Peanuts was the lowest on the list of my choices.
Want free drinks on SWA? Bring some good quality candy like Ghirardelli or Lindor chocolates for the flight attendants.
How many instances of peanut allergy related problems have been reported on Southwest flights? There may have been some but I've never heard of any.
Pretzels will work, I like them even better. GOTTA HAVE SOMETHING!
If no snacks are provided I bring my own but you probly cant get a tiny bag of chips past the TSA goons.
So are peanuts going to be banned on the plane? How do you stop people from bringing “peanut” related items on the plane?
>>Let the Vax/Anti-Vax war commence.<<
The problem with the Vax hypothesis is it depends on correlation = causation.
Like “where does talent come from” (in a scientific sense) this is the kind of thing that drives me nuts (except when I am thinking about wife, work, house, family, finances, NK nukes and the talks, islamic radicalism. SCOTUS, etc.).
Bribe the crew beforehand! Thats the secret!!
Had this been the 70s the "something" would have been a great substitute:
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