I genuinely feel bad for a young woman who suffers from celiac disease whose consumption of a croissant on a 15-hour Emirates flight led to immense discomfort. I think the important takeaway, though, is that those with severe food allergies or diseases impacting food consumption must pack their own food to protect themselves.
Food Allergy? Pack Your Own Food, Even On Emirates
Kyle wrote about the incident itself yesterday and so I will not retell the whole story, but in short a woman who calls herself Chloë Chapdelaine boarded a 15-hour Emirates flights from Dubai (DXB) to Los Angeles (LAX) and was served breakfast after takeoff. She has celiac disease, which produces an immune reaction to eating gluten creating inflammation that damages the small intestine’s lining (and in so doing, leads to intense pain).
Her breakfast had gluten free stickers all over it, but the packaged croissant did not. She ate it, amazed that it tasted so good…then she realized it was not gluten-free after all and began feel the effects. Much of the remainder of the flight was spent in the lavatory:
I am of the opinion that those with a severe nut allergy or those, like here, who have celiac disease face a very difficult situation. You never know what to believe on TikTok, but for purposes of our discussion here I will take her at her word because we do not such food allergies do exist.
Sadly, my takeaway is that even an airline known for its attention to detail cannot be trusted. Yes, it should be enough to order a gluten-free meal and expect that it will be catered and that all of its components will be gluten-free.
But the reaction to eating gluten seems so severe that I cannot imagine just trusting the carrier, especially after incidents like this. I realize this really represents an adverse impact to quality of life when you cannot even go to a restaurant or airplane and eat anything, but I would think that would beat hours in the restroom dealing with the after effects of a few accidental bites of gluten (or nuts).
Practically, that means a lot more planning before a flight: packaged snacks or finding a grocery store or specialty store. But that seems like a small price to pay to guard your health.
CONCLUSION
I have my own sun allergy that is rather handicapping, but I am thankful that I do not have to fear what kind of food I put in my mouth. Without blaming Chapdelaine for not more closely inspecting the croissant before consuming it or excusing carriers for mixing gluten sides on a gluten-free meal tray, I do think her sad story is an important reminder those with food constraints must not rely on others for food: it is apparently too dangerous and not worth the risk.
image: @chloe.chapdelaine / TikTok
“Her breakfast had gluten free stickers all over it, but the packaged croissant did not. “ Boom!!! Her fault. Someone may have misplaced the croissant there but as you said it DID not have gluten free sticker on it. In doubt, go safe and do not eat it. And yes, if I had healthy issues related to food I wouldn’t trust anyone else other than me to pack my own food.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this video got her more hits than any of her hotel reviews. I sincerely wonder if her mental fragility is a greater health concern than her celiac disease.
When in doubt. If she wasn’t in doubt…well.
Reading the comments on Kyle’s post we found one of the few issues this group agrees mostly on.
Even if she did get sick, she had time to film it and is going to benefit from all the publicity. Who wants to see someone filming in an airplane restroom? And more so, who even does something like that? Guaranteed this was a win for her “career”, whatever that is. And she would do it all over again.
Agreed. If I were doubled up with intestinal cramps and repeatedly sitting on the loo, the last thing I’d want to do is record a video….
That’s a reasonable point, but this generation seems to want to record everything for maximum dramatic effect. Sure, if it was truly unbearable she might not broadcast it (like my food poisoning on United in 2017, which left me in a very bad place). But I get it…these sorts of story go viral and even in your pain sometimes you slog through.
This is a lost generation.
Every dietician I’ve conversed with stresses to celiac clients the importance of only eating whole foods when not able to ascertain product use in cooking. Fresh fruits,salads,vegetables and nuts. Breads may be cross contaminated in a kitchen.
The fact that it tasted good should have been a reason to double check if really gluten-free or not.
I’m disappointed in all the comments here. I have a similar issue and was diagnosed not long ago and have had a very hard time adapting especially when traveling. It’s tiring, it’s challenging to find options, and if I got a whole meal that was sealed up and marked gluten free yes I’d expect it all to be gluten free. This video is very helpful to me as I learn how to navigate this medical issue because it is not fun to be out enjoying yourself and suddenly come down with severe stomach pains even though you only selected food options that were supposed to be safe. I hope you learn more compassion especially if it happens to anyone close to you
I largely agree with your sentiment and hope I expressed clearly that I feel bad for Chloë, but I do think that even though a food allergy is a difficult thing to deal with, one must…the alternative is even worse.
@Alice B: did you missed the part that the croissant was the only part of the meal that didn’t have “gluten free” sticker on it? So her options: 1) in doubt, do not eat it 2) let’s eat and if things go bad I can go to the restroom and make a video to post on TikTok. I hope you chose option #1 if that ever happens to you. BTW, gluten is very easy to be avoided on a plane. In doubt, do not eat anything that might have flour on it. Gluten is only found on wheat, barley, and rye so kind of easy to understand you should avoid anything that may contain flour in case your are suspicious. Just to be clear, I am very sorry for those who suffer from celiac disease but making a TikTok video while suffering from its effects inside a plane bathroom is not necessary.
Hi Alice. I also have medical issues. My hematologist suggested a very good nutritionist. There are prescription meal replacements ( powdered & packaged in single serve packets for travel and formulated for individual issues). Just add water. That way you’re guaranteed a full safe balanced meal anywhere.
I wish you well in your health journey
“I have my own sun allergy”
What? How could you have an allergy to the sun? Do you mean you get sunburned easily?
Erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP).
I can see how you would call that an allergy, even though it technically isn’t. Practically, it might as well be.
I’m genuinely sorry to hear that. I hope it’s not too difficult for you.
I sense that she assumed the entire tray was gluten free and simply missed that the croissant was not gluten-free. I must ask – are gluten-free croissants common? I have yet to see such offerings in a bakery or in the gluten-free section of stores. I see a simple mistake here and to Emirate’s credit, the gluten-filled croissant was sealed and did not cross-contaminate the rest of the meal. You cannot blame the airline here.
FYI: I have had a severe nut allergy since childhood but fortunately not at the level where I would even consider – as some trollers would say- “shut down peanut service for everybody”. I empathize with her – we are all human and make mistakes. I consumed nuts on board a transpacific flight by accident (my own fault, not the airline’s) and took actions into my own hands by administering my own epinephrine in the lavatory.
I’m not familiar with celiac disease treatments, but are there similar measures one would take in case of accidental ingestion?
There are not similar treatments. And the damage done in the intestines when gluten is accidentally eaten is permanent.
For years I could eat gluten but then I got very sick with an allergic reaction to zoloft. Because it took a long time to diagnose, I was very ill, in a lot of pain, and lost a lot of weight and it turned on the genes that cause celiac disease. This compounded my health issues. It finally was determined I was allergic to Zoloft and I was tested for celiac. It’s been a long road but I’ve learned absolutely no gluten and do research on any medicine you are prescribed. Which means read more than the warning info that comes with the medication. Cause my reaction was not listed although it was known and not extremely rare.
Woe is Me #Eye Roll Next time Don’t eat it if it doesn’t say GF like All the rest
A sun allergy and you live in LA? Yikes.
I agree. If a reaction to something like this, especially on a 15 hour flight, could be so severe, I’d pack my own food.