The proportion of travellers suffering a food related allergic reaction while on holiday has risen by a quarter in just six months, according to new research.
One in eight (12%) reported having experienced an issue in April, a figure that has risen to one in seven (15% of travellers) now, representing an increase of 25%.
This encompasses both travellers who have themselves suffered an allergic reaction on holiday (7%) as well as those who reported one of their travel companions experiencing an allergic reaction (8%).
These proportions have increased from 5% and 7% respectively.
Incident data from independent charity Safer Tourism Foundation also shows that near misses relating to life-threatening food allergies are a “critical area of concern” for the industry.
Despite food allergies growing in prevalence, just one in four travellers (26%) has been on a commercial flight where an announcement was made requesting that passengers refrain from consuming a food containing an allergen.
However, whether they have experienced a passenger-wide flight announcement before or not, nine out of 10 say they will refrain from eating any food containing nuts if asked to by the airline.
Instigating a new campaign – Put the Nuts Away – the foundation warned that there is no globally recognised standard for managing life-threatening allergies on commercial flights.
The campaign calls for “more transparency, consistency and pragmatism” in airlines’ approach to managing passengers with life-threatening allergies.
It wants to see airlines and rail operators having clear, transparent and publicly available policies on how they manage travellers with life threatening allergies.
Firms should follow through consistently on their policies, across the traveller journey, so what is written on a website should be what happens at the gate, and on the flight.
Civil Aviation Authority guidance should be adopted on aircraft and trains so a minimum of two auto-adrenaline injectors are carried and crew are trained on how to use them
As part of the campaign, the charity will be adding more life-saving information to their website and across their social channels, including what to do if someone begins to experience anaphylaxis.
Safer Tourism Foundation chief executive Katherine Atkinson said:“One of the reasons we don’t see more of our fellow passengers experiencing severe reactions to food allergies when we fly is that people who have life-threatening food allergies are usually very good at managing the risks themselves.
“But this may have given airlines a false sense of security, and the prevalence of food allergies is changing.
“Food allergies in the UK have more than doubled since 2008, especially amongst young children, and there’s been a big rise in accidental reactions due to milk products.
“It’s almost impossible to ensure commercial flights have no food allergen risk, but nut particles are particularly sticky and hang around on airplane surfaces such as arm rests, tray tables and toilet handles.
“The vast majority of travellers would not want a fellow passenger’s life to be put at risk unnecessarily. So we’re asking people to make a relatively small sacrifice if asked to do so, because refraining from eating a peanut or cashew for the duration of a flight might just save a life.
“We want to see airlines and rail operators make this a priority and have clear, consistent and reasonable policies in place for the management of food allergy risk to enable everyone, whether or not they have a food allergy, to travel safely.”
Dr Paul Turner, professor of anaphylaxis research at Imperial College London, has conducted research for the CAA to assess the measures airlines should take to minimise the risks for travellers with severe food allergies.
He said: “Food-allergic reactions are uncommon on modern aircraft, but this is almost certainly because of measures people with food allergies take to keep themselves safe.
“While it is rare for people to get allergic reactions due to ‘airborne allergens’ while flying, there are very real risks from touching seat surfaces or entertainment screens which may have been contaminated with food.
“Passengers with food allergies should be allowed to pre-board to clean their seat area, and airlines should have clear policies which are applied consistently to help food-allergic individuals feel confident when flying.”