Nut allergy results in removal from plane

A Calgary woman with a severe peanut allergy is upset that she was asked to leave a flight from Mexico last month after asking the flight attendants not to serve the snack to passengers.

Juliane Braren, who has taken about 50 flights in her lifetime, said she has always asked the attendants on her flights not to serve peanuts because she has had a severe allergy since birth.

But the Mexicana flight crew wouldn't change the snack menu and asked her to take a different flight, she said.

"It makes me very angry — very, very angry," she said. "It actually hurts me. It hurts me that people could be so insensitive and just not care about other people."

Mexicana organized a flight on another airline for Braren to return to Canada.

An airline spokesperson said changes to meals and snacks have to be organized in advance.

But Braren said she called Mexicana in advance, and the person on the line told her all she had to do was remind the flight attendants of her request before boarding.

Neither WestJet nor Air Canada serve peanuts on flights.

Air Canada said that while the airline has taken measures in regard to allergies, it is ultimately the individual's responsibility to take proper precautions, including having medications.

"Moreover," said Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick in a written statement to CBC News, "it is impossible to guarantee a nut-free environment as customers may either eat nuts prior to boarding or bring nuts on board with them. As well, we cannot guarantee our caterer and other third parties that supply our food do not use nuts or nut-based products."


- Indian Journalist.