A New Jersey mother says she will do anything to keep her son from life-threatening exposure to peanuts.
Her efforts now include petitioning the federal government to issue guidelines to airlines that she says would better protect those with peanut allergies.
“I would like you to be able to book your ticket and check off that you have a food allergy,” said Mandelbaum. “I’m not asking you to ban peanuts on planes, but I am asking you to let me make the environment safer for my child.”
She’s proposing new rules allowing peanut allergy sufferers board early and sit in a nut-free “buffer zone.”
Flight crews would also be required to make announcements alerting fliers to a nut allergy passenger on board.
According to Food Allergy Research and Education, nearly 15 million Americans have food allergies.
The group says one in 13 children under 18 has some kind of food allergy.
Lianne Mandelbaum’s son is one of those children.
He suffers from a peanut allergy so severe that even touching a surface exposed to nuts could mean deadly consequences.
A survey conducted by an allergist at the University of Michigan Medical School, shows 349 of the 3,273 participants suffered an allergic reaction onboard a plane.
The study identifies ways to prevent these incidents including, nut-free buffer zones, only eating food brought from home and asking for accommodations from the airline ahead of time.
JetBlue is one of few airlines taking preventative measures to prevent allergic reactions.
On its website, JetBlue says it does not serve peanuts, but cannot guarantee passengers won’t bring snacks on board that pose a threat.
They do however offer a buffer zone of one row in front of and behind an allergy sufferer.
In that zone, the flight crew will ask that passengers “refrain from consuming any nut containing products they have brought on board.”
So far, more than 14,000 people have signed Mandelbaum’s petition.
“We’re worrying about our children dying up in the air at 35,000 feet or having a reaction or being terrified. That’s what we’re worried about,” Mandelbaum said.
Until there’s change at the federal level, Mandelbaum says she will continue to urge airlines to take the initiative to make their planes safer for those with food allergies.