Posted on 09/03/2014 10:02:25 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The parent of a child with a life-threatening peanut allergy is fighting for new rules to protect airline passengers who have severe food allergies.
Lianne Mandelbaum, who says she was practically kicked off a United Airlines flight last year because of her son’s condition, has been lobbying for new protections for allergy sufferers.
Now, more than 14,000 people are coming to her aid, petitioning lawmakers and federal regulators to establish a "buffer zone" around passengers who are allergic to certain foods.
“I am not after a nut ban,” Mandelbaum said. “Just the ability to preboard, wipe down the seat area and make an announcement that will let everyone live with their own moral compass around me.”
The petitioners are calling for a rule that would prohibit airlines from serving snacks containing nuts to any passenger sitting near someone with a peanut allergy. Furthermore, passengers who bring peanuts on board would not be allowed to eat them during the flight, if they are sitting within the buffer zone.
The buffer zone would extend to passengers sitting in the three rows in front of or behind someone with a severe peanut allergy.
The rules would also prevent airlines from removing passengers who have peanut allergies.
When Mandelbaum reported her son's allergy to United Airlines, she recalls being told: "Well, if you think he's going to die, don't get on the plane."
"Children and adults with food allergies should be able to report their allergy without fear of being kicked off a flight," Mandelbaum said. "As it stands, they have no such rights and cases have been reported of people being taken off a flight for reporting a food allergy."
Currently, there are no federal rules protecting airlines passengers who have peanut allergies, Mandelbaum says — something she is hoping to change.
Mandelbaum successfully convinced the New Jersey Senate to protect airline passengers with peanut allergies in 2013.
But she is pushing for federal rules that would expand the protections for passengers around the country.
Mandelbaum is also meeting with officials at top airlines, asking them to establish company policies protecting passengers with peanut allergies. She noted that "different flight crews on the same airline will react differently to a food allergy request" without set policies.
She has had some success in her efforts.
WestJet has stopped serving peanuts on board, while Jet Blue Airways will create a buffer zone for allergic passengers upon request, Mandelbaum said.
However, United Airlines has shown "no signs" of changing its policy, following the incident where she was asked to take her son off the flight, Mandelbaum said.
Delta Airlines has not responded to her request, she added.
The petition is being hosted by Care2, an activist website that hosts petitions from public interest, environmental and health groups.
Oh, dear — I hope you didn’t think I considered your post an “clueless and hateful comment.”
I was agreeing with you and your illustration of how deadly a peanut allergy can be — and how uninformed and uncaring some other comments on this thread are.
Sorry if I left the wrong impression.
HEY!!! That could cause me some really severe pain after a good mexican meal.......
Well, sometimes shit just happens. If one of my children were to drink Clorox or Gasoline, they'd probably need to go to the hospital too. You can't make special accommodations for EVERYONE for EVERYTHING that MIGHT harm them. In the case of airplanes, if a child is allergic to something - peanuts in this case, a parent should take responsibility and make sure the child doesn't get exposed to them. Make sure they're not given to them, alert the staff on the plane, ect. This stuff isn't THAT difficult.
One of our kids was allergic to eggs, and that was a REAL problem for us, because you'd be surprised how many foods contain eggs. We managed to get through it. Over time, she got to where she could have them again.... (thank God). We never asked for special treatment or accommodations from anyone. We just looked out for her, as responsible parents SHOULD.
If you cannot sit within a seat of someone eating a certain type of food, you shouldn’t be on a plane, period.
I have sympathy for people with severe peanut allergies, but they have to mind their own affairs in this type of thing.
If someone is immunocompromised and has to live in a bubble, are they going to mandate everyone on the plane has to live in a bubble too? Or wall off five rows fore and aft?
I just don’t get the thought process at all. I would take responsibility for my own safety and well being.
It is insane legislation like this, much of it rooted in the ADA mentality, that makes living in this country or running a business more and more difficult with each page of regulations governing any and all activities.
If that makes me hateful to have that opinion, so be it.
Is the bread gluten free? Is the beef certified Halal? The Horseradish sauce... is it Kosher? Hope the napkins are dioxin free and the coffee is certified organic and fair-trade, served in BPA free cups that were not made out of oil that was fracked.
seriously, though... I had noted reading the ingredients (well as of last year) that the snack boxes sold on United are soy free... That is pretty much my discriminator.... as soy has no business being in the human diet.
Oh, the nanny state freepers will be out in force over this one! Conservative nanny staters and health Nazis are the worst!
Not to be rude or too blunt, but “This mother only wants an area near him safe for him She isn’t trying to control the behavior of the entire plane” is an oxymoron statement.
Of course she is trying to control those around her, because she wants no one near that has peanuts, has access to peanuts, or has peanut ‘cooties’ on them. And if you ban peanuts around her, then the entire plane has to be peanut free.
That is the definition of ‘control.’
What did people do when flying in, say, the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s. . .etc?
At the time I would guess 50% there.
She had some real bad reactions when she was a toddler which were contact - not eating. The Doc’s confirmed the allergy and up through preschool we were pretty much hover parents,and when she started school we informed all the parents about it. Life started to get easier when she could read the ingredients on the packaging.
She did have a few severe reactions, again contact, and had to use an epipin once and a couple of hospital trips.
I think there is a willful lack of knowledge about the existence of epipens.
>> Lianne Mandelbaum, who says she was practically kicked off a United Airlines flight last year because of her son’s condition, has been lobbying for new protections for allergy sufferers.
Drive your fragile spawn where they need to go in your automobile.
Then keep your damned automobile peanut-free, if that’s your preference.
I am beyond fed up with militant asswipes forcing their “rights” down our throats.
Scary stuff , peanut allergies.
A new victim group!
Apples and Orangutans!
The last time I flew was about two years ago. We go the fast cart service with a drink and a very small bag of doddle crunchy things.
I’m not sure about the merits of this lady’s petition, but I can vouch that peanut allergies can be astonishingly dangerous, and are not to be trifled with. My wife was babysitting some children, including a two-year-old boy with peanut allergies. She had been told that he was allergic to peanuts, but was also told that his allergy was not thought to be very severe. She tried to be careful not to ever give him anything with peanuts, but one time, while serving peanut butter sandwiches to the other kids, she absentmindedly gave him a peanut butter sandwich as well. Soon after he took only one bite, he came down with symptoms of severe anaphylaxis, which brought him close to death. At the ER, he was not very responsive to the first administration of epinephrine, and was then given the maximum allowable dose; even with that, he barely made it.
Business and First still bring out the small bowl of peanuts. . .wide selection of nuts when flying international. . .yum.
What did people do when flying in, say, the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s. . .etc?
They smoked ...when they wanted to.
That is a terrifying and heartbreaking article at the link you posted.
I wish everyone on this thread would read it.
“If you cannot sit within a seat of someone eating a certain type of food, you shouldn’t be on a plane, period.”
Kimchee?
Whew. . .
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