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Dua Lipa Criticizes United Airlines for the Way It Handled Her Sister's Peanut Allergy

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While flying United Airlines with her sister, singer Dua Lipa informed a flight attendant that her sister has a severe nut allergy. The attendant told her it’s not a “not a nut free airline so if she has an epi pen she might have to use that,” Lipa shared Wednesday on Twitter.

The attendant also told Lipa that the attendants would still serve the passengers near them peanuts. The Twitter account for United Airlines responded to Lipa’s tweet, stating that, “Passenger safety is our top priority. We can’t guarantee an allergen-free environment but we work to address allergy concerns onboard ie we don’t serve pre-packaged peanuts.”

It’s unclear why peanuts would be served on Lipa’s flight since the airline states in its tweet and on its website that it does not serve pre-packaged nuts. On its website, the airline states it “cannot guarantee an allergen-free meal or environment on its flights.”

While airlines can choose not to serve peanuts, they cannot stop passengers from bringing food containing allergens onboard. United advises passengers to tell flight attendants of a severe allergy, like Lipa did. Attendants can then request that other passengers refrain from opening or eating food brought onboard with the known allergen. This is not what the flight attendant told Lipa, according to her tweet.

Fans of the singer responded on Twitter, sharing their own stories of flying with food allergies and asking airlines to do better.

Recently, Southwest Airlines decided to stop serving peanuts on flights starting Aug. 1. The decision was in an effort to keep passengers safe after a 9-year-old boy had an allergic reaction onboard.

Correction: A recent version of this article stated that the 9-year-old boy on the Southwest flight died. He had an allergic reaction, but did not die.

Image via Creative Commons/jus10h

Originally published: July 25, 2018
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