Emirates airline on Wednesday said it ‘cannot guarantee a nut-free inflight environment’ and asked passengers to consult doctors before starting their journey.
The statement comes after Love Island star Jack Fowler, who has an allergy to nuts, said he “ate a curry containing cashew nuts” on an Emirates flight.
Upon landing at the Dubai airport, he was rushed to a hospital for treatment.
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An Emirates spokesperson said “teams on the ground are providing him with all possible assistance.”
After consuming the curry, Fowler said he told the flight attendant that he “couldn’t breathe” and enquired if there was nuts in the food.
“I was told that there were no nuts in the chicken curry. Only when my friend demanded to see the food menu, I realised that it was a ‘creamy cashew nut chicken curry,” he said in an Instagram post.
“This left me with the real possibility of dying on the plane as I knew I needed emergency treatment immediately. I was given five tanks of Oxygen, as well as my Adrenaline Pen (Epi Pen),” Fowler added.
The Love Island star reportedly told the flight supervisor: “If you don’t land this plane soon, I will die on this plane.”
He added that this “led to the pilot speeding up the journey.”
“We are sorry to hear of Mr Fowler’s experience and our teams on the ground are providing him with all possible assistance. The safety and health of our customers is taken very seriously,” an Emirates spokesperson told Khaleej Times, in a statement.
This was the second time that Fowler had been served a meal containing nuts during a flight. He was reportedly earlier served such a meal by Qatar Airways.
Serving nuts on all flights
The Dubai-based airline has mentioned on its website that it serves nuts on all of its flights, either as a meal ingredient or as an accompaniment to drinks.
“While Emirates aims to cater to customers with specific needs by offering a variety of special meals that cover medical, dietary, and religious requirements, we cannot guarantee a nut-free in-flight environment. We urge travellers with dietary or other medical requirements to check our website and consult their doctor before travel,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
It also alerted travellers that other people on the flight may bring food that contains nuts, and traces of nut residue could be passed on to other surfaces of the aircraft as well as through the air conditioning system.
For passengers who have a specific diet, Emirates asked them to choose from its range of dietary meals, instead of its on-board menu. Passengers can book a dietary meal up to 24 hours ahead of their flight online.