Should peanuts be banned from airplanes?
It’s the joke that Jerry Seinfeld owes much of his stand-up success: "What’s the deal with airplane peanuts?"
And while that line has endured for decades, airline peanuts, however, have not.
Due to increased allergy concerns, Air Canada and WestJet removed peanuts from their flights years ago, choosing not to actively serve them to passengers. But there’s one caveat: other travelers can still bring their own peanuts onboard …
… which begs the question – should peanuts be banned from airplanes altogether?
News out of the U.S. this week has people talking about the issue, as the nation’s Department of Transportation has posed new sanctions against peanuts onboard aircrafts.
The proposed rules would prevent airlines from serving peanuts (some American carriers still do), but could also include an important precedent: if passed, the new policy could actually prevent other passengers from bringing their own peanuts onboard, something airlines have never been able to.
For example, two spokespeople – one from WestJet, one from Air Canada – told me today that, while no peanuts are served on their airlines, there’s little they can do about travelers bringing their own nuts onboard.
According to WestJet’s allergy policy, passengers with heightened peanut allergies can contact the airline ahead of time, whereupon they’ll set up a safe zone of three rows surrounding said traveler where other passengers will be asked to refrain from consuming nuts during the flight.
Moreover, Air Canada has been urged to set up nut-free zones by the Canadian Transportation Agency, but any action is still in talks with the government, an AC spokesperson said this afternoon.
Yet for all WestJet's and Air Canada’s willingness to comply with the needs of allergy-prone passengers, in many ways their hands are tied.
While they can provide zones where no peanuts will be consumed during the flight, it’s nearly impossible for airlines to eliminate the presence of nuts entirely from planes – whether they exist in trace elements on food, seat cushions or wherever.
"There really is no practical way to ban guests from bringing nuts on board," says WestJet spokesperson Robert Palmer. "You could put a ban in place, but how do you enforce it?"
Adds Peter Fitzpatrick, spokesperson for Air Canada: "It is really impossible to police, because the issue is oil from peanuts gets on people's fingers and can linger from some time. So in order not to give customers with peanut allergies a false sense of security ... this is why we cannot and do not promise a peanut free environment."
Tell us: should peanuts be banned – across the board – on airplanes, or is it the responsibility of those with allergies to protect themselves?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: POLLY | Jun 11, 2021 12:14:36 PM
I do not have a peanut allergy but I am an asthmatic. I cannot tolerate smoke. It takes all kinds of people to make up this world and we are all different. I think we should have consideration for those people with food allergies by not allowing them in any public place and the same goes for smoking.
Posted by: TERESA GONCALVES | Jun 11, 2021 12:18:52 PM
A PEANUT ALLERGY IS FATAL FOR MOST PEOPLE. HAVING SOMEONE TOUCH THE OILS ON A PILLOW, SEAT ETC. AND THEN TOUCHING THEIR NOSE OR EYES OR A CHILD BITING THEIR NAILS CAN BE FATAL.... WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THE PLANE IS OVER THE OCEAN AND NO PLACE TO LAND TO SAVE THIS PERSON WHO HAS AN EPIPEN THAT WILL ONLY LAST UP TO 20 MINUTES UNTIL THE PERSON CAN GO ANAPHYLATIC. ALL NUTS SHOULD BE BANNED FROM ANY FLIGHT AND PEOPLE SHOULD BE MADE AWARE THAT THEY ARE NOT TO INJEST ANY NUT PRODUCTS DURING A FLIGHT. THEY SHOULD ALSO HAVE A BRIEFING ON TV PRIOR TO THE MOVIE SO PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY. I DO NOT THINK ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO FLY WITH A CADAVER IN THE PLANE. HAVING A CHILD WITH A NUT ALLERGY, I KNOW HOW SEVERE IT CAN BE EVEN IF THEY DO NOT INJEST IT.
Posted by: Kayleigh | Jun 11, 2021 12:24:17 PM
Peanuts should be banned. Is it really THAT hard to not eat nuts for a few hours?
People's lives are at risk from this allergy and there is little they can do to protect themselves other than never leaving their home or carrying an epi-pen.
If you are annoyed at the prospect think of it this way....it's better than someone going into a severe allergy attack and your plane getting rerouted to get them to the emergency medical personnel they need and therefore your plane being hours late.
BTW I think airlines should also ban perfume from flights - every time I'm on a plane I get to spend my time hacking, coughing, and taking repeated doses of my inhaler just because someone likes to bathe in Axe or another terrible scent.
Posted by: Lynn | Jun 11, 2021 12:24:30 PM
I am lactose intolerant, cannot digest garlic nor onions and I'm hypoglycemic. I need to eat quite frequently to feel good, nuts and peanuts are one of the few foods that help me to maintain my blood sugar at a reasonable level and keep me feeling good.
I avoid foods that make me ill. Banning peanuts from airplanes I feel would be terrible. I don't expect milk products nor garlic and onions to be banned from public places and would expect the same of peanuts. If you are allergic just avoid it the same way that I have to avoid the food that make me ill.
Posted by: Jeff | Jun 11, 2021 12:29:02 PM
Considering that many schools and others places are banning nut products and even perfume it should not be that difficult to make planes a nut free zone. Certainly food prepared for consumption can be done in nut free facilities and perhaps nuts themselves should be banned from the gate areas at airports. Nut products are sold in sealed containers and these could either be placed in checked luggage or, like duty free, be picked up at the gate (well, maybe not that strict) and required to be kept in a sealed bag or at least the container must be sealed.
Posted by: Brad | Jun 11, 2021 12:34:58 PM
I have a milk allergy, I don't expect people to treat me special, you learn to be careful and know how to avoid contact, and what to do in case you do come in contact (epipen, etc). I don't expect people to change on account of me, it's not their allergy. In school and around young children, this makes sense as they don't have the discipline, skills, etc to be aware of the risks, and avoid contact, but if you’re on a plane doubtful that a small child will be flying alone, the parent should have things under control, and if your an adult you should know how to take care of yourself.
Posted by: Jen | Jun 11, 2021 12:36:06 PM
To Lynn - while consuming dairy, onions, or garlic may make you feel pretty uncomfortable, you are not at risk of death because of them, whereas peanut allergies can be set off just from being in the vicinity of peanuts. There's a big difference between foods not agreeing with you and being fatally allergic, especially when emergency medical help is not readily available.
Posted by: Sandy | Jun 12, 2021 11:24:49 AM
I think the airlines should have a SAFE ZONE on their flights, for people with all types of allergies, and this area could be kept perfume, peanut, lactose, etc. free. I do not think nut products should be banned. As meals are no longer offered free on flights, nut products are an easy, convenient protein item that can tide you over during long flights. Peanut allergies are not something new...so why the fuss now??
Posted by: Debbie | Jun 12, 2021 3:10:39 PM
I am amazed at the lack of compassion from some of the comments. I too have other allergies, and I am lactose intolerant. If I have milk, I don't die, but I get terrible abdominal pains. Would I care if peanuts were banned? NO WAY! If it means saving someone's life, then having any other opinion is horribly selfish. OMG, I am hypoglycemic and need my nuts?!?!?! You can eat soy products you jerk. I hope someone dies on YOUR flight because of your selfish attitude about "requiring" your nuts. Then live with yourself.
Posted by: Randall | Jun 12, 2021 3:28:27 PM
Does anyone know the statstic of how many people have actually died on any flight in the last 50 years due to a peanut allergy?
Posted by: ken | Jun 12, 2021 4:01:59 PM
People, get a gripe here, one person in a million is alergic to peanuts and you think you can ban them. Peanuts are every where and peanut eatters are every where, its impossible to ban them, there will always be peanuts or peanut residue on some one. It is up to the people with the allergy to take steps to protect them selfs
Posted by: Yggy | Jun 12, 2021 4:24:34 PM
I agree with Polly, people with allergies should not be allowed in public spaces. And the same with smokers. As for the nuts, and the peanuts they are allergic to, they can bite me. They will probably have a reaction because as a product of superior breeding I eat nuts all the time without allergic reactions.
Posted by: James P | Jun 12, 2021 4:43:04 PM
why should the rest of the population suffer because of one person. if they have the alergy to beanuts then they should take all the proper percautions. there is too many bleeding hearts in the world, whats next alergic to uv rays so all the passengers will be in the dark for one ^passenger. get a life people
Posted by: Dave | Jun 12, 2021 4:48:52 PM
ok where does it end ban peanuts from the airport, buses and taxis taking you to the airport, banning airport staff, security, baggage handlers, customs officers from eating nuts .....think about it people
Posted by: sheldon | Jun 12, 2021 4:50:48 PM
sure... a few people get sick and die and the whole world has to change to suit them.
they are left with no responsibility at all. everybody else has to change just to make them safe. ya right, give me a break.
it is "your" allergy, "you" take the precautions needed to protect your self.
my neighbor has hay fever, what's next, everyone in the county has to pave over their lawns and cut down all the trees and pave it just so she can be safe??! suck it up!...move on and protect yourself.
i as well as others are tired of babysitting.
Posted by: Kim | Jun 12, 2021 5:30:47 PM
Make peanuts illegal! That should solve the problem! Flying is not a right, if you are that severely allergic to ANYTHING......drive! That way you have control over your surroundings. There is no way to enforce a peanut ban on flights and the airlines shouldn't have to be responsible for what the general public brings on board.
Posted by: D.C. | Jun 12, 2021 6:21:07 PM
WOW.........whats next, segregation of cities........
Posted by: Kelly | Jun 12, 2021 6:44:14 PM
I have a severe allergy to apples that is essentially the same as to peanuts and I am required to carry an Epipen. There are many other foods that people are deathly allergic to. I don't expect that banning these items from anywhere is a good idea.
Posted by: Sheld 911 | Jun 12, 2021 6:46:17 PM
I agree with D.C We might as well ban everything at this point, might as well go everywhere naked like the caveman DAYS. Cripes learn to live with it. If you have alergies to nuts, I am pretty sure if you ask the person next to you, he or she will understand. My biggest peeve is B.O. Now thats something that should be banned.
Posted by: H.T. | Jun 12, 2021 7:51:12 PM
Many people have food allergies. We can't keep banning foods that some people are allergic to. The person who is allergic to a food is responsible do what needs to be done, not hold back everyone else from eating food. Various foods that keep being banned are what some people are to eat for the better, to keep them healthy.