There is no evidence for the commonly held belief that nut allergens can be spread through aircraft ventilation systems, say allergy and aviation medicine specialists in an evidence review published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. Allergen residues on surfaces, such as tray tables, and seat-back video screens, pose the main risk-;a risk that is likely heightened by the fast turnaround times deployed by many low-cost carriers, they suggest. And allergic reactions to foods are around 10 to 100 times less common during flights than they are 'on the ground,' they point out, although this could be due to passengers with food allergies taking more precautions when flying, they acknowledge.
Around 2–3% of children and 1–2% of adults in the UK have a food allergy, say the authors. And similar rates are observed in medium to high income countries. Food allergy is the most common cause of anaphylaxis, a potentially life threatening allergic reaction.
In a bid to dispel some of the misconceptions about the perceived risks posed to passengers with food allergies on commercial flights, the authors drew on the systematic review of the published evidence dating back to 1980, commissioned by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2023. With the notable exceptions of vapours from fish/seafood and exposure to occupational wheat flour, allergic reactions to aerosolised foods are rare, and rarely reproducible, say the authors. While peanut allergens can be detected at very low l.
