KLM Promises to Investigate After Passenger Accidentally Gets Ill from Gluten Meal During Flight

As I repeatedly complain to my supermarket, they have two freezer cases marked gluten free.  Every time I have checked they contain NOT ONE gluten free product.  Apparently Safeway thinks "plant based" is "gluten free" and apparently considers wheat a form of animal.  

The answer to KLM is devastatingly simple.  If you can't guarantee your meals labeled gluten free indeed are, then don't advertise that you can provide gluten free meals.  Just let the passengers bring their own food. 

I have been through what that woman went through and each time I could trace it to hidden gluten.  I have been hospitalized twice.  The upset from being glutened feels very different from a normal upset stomach. KLM should be ashamed of itself for trying to wiggle out.  

I tried to book a flight with KLM from Amsterdam to Seattle, to visit my daughter, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I could choose between glutenfree or lactose free food. because they did not sell both in one meal! So they advised me to bring my own food. But I wouldn't be allowed to heat my food in the microwave! Further more, they told me that bringing my own food would not give any prolems at customs. But they cannot promise that. Customs just tell you what you can and cannot take with you, for instance no cheese in your food and because you can't  prove the contents They just not allow it. And KLM has no power over Customs rules. So I never even have seen any of my great grandchildren, since they were born.  So sad!

On a recent American flight I was served a supposedly gluten-free meal of salad, chicken, polenta and carrots. On my tray were prepackaged crackers and baklava. The first ingredient on both was wheat flour. I don’t have Celiac reactions. Mine are hives and itching. I don’t think the hot food had gluten in it because I didn’t itch anymore than normal. KLM is not the only airline that doesn’t know what gluten-free means.

20 hours ago, Elisabeth Gerritsen said:

I tried to book a flight with KLM from Amsterdam to Seattle, to visit my daughter, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I could choose between gluten-free or lactose free food. because they did not sell both in one meal! So they advised me to bring my own food. But I wouldn't be allowed to heat my food in the microwave! Further more, they told me that bringing my own food would not give any problems at customs. But they cannot promise that. Customs just tell you what you can and cannot take with you, for instance no cheese in your food and because you can't  prove the contents They just not allow it. And KLM has no power over Customs rules. So I never even have seen any of my great grandchildren, since they were born.  So sad!

I typically pack a couple of gluten-free sandwiches and energy bars in my carry on backpack when I travel abroad, and have never had issues going through airport security in Europe or the USA (you would go through customs after you arrive, not before the flight). I typically fly on a USA airline, but have flown on AVA and Lufthansa without any issues. I think everyone with celiac disease should bring food on their flights, just in case.

Easy to say, but when you are a diabetic, a few energy bars would not help me through  a 10 hours or more during flight with stops in between! I am glutenfree, lactose free and vegan! Impossible to find those in granola bars or so.

10 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

I typically pack a couple of gluten-free sandwiches and energy bars in my carry on backpack when I travel abroad, and have never had issues going through airport security in Europe or the USA (you would go through customs after you arrive, not before the flight). I typically fly on a USA airline, but have flown on AVA and Lufthansa without any issues. I think everyone with celiac disease should bring food on their flights, just in case.

I have a funny story about food and customs that has almost nothing to do with celiac disease except advice.   It is just funny.

When my son was 17, back in the back of beyond, he flew to meet me in Ireland for a week's trip.  He was, shall we say, anticipatory of later marijuana legalization.  So I said "NO ILLICIT SUBSTANCES with you."  He said fine, and discovered to his delight that he could belly up to the bar most places for beer and cider.  No sign of furtive sloping off to smoke.

So we get back to SeaTac and are collecting baggage to go through customs.  My pack is leaning against the wall as I look for suitcases.  Suddenly Nik goes "Uh, Mom."  I look over and see a guy with a uniform and a dog, who was sniffing my pack vigorously.  

Simultaneous yells  "I TOLD YOU..." and "I DIDN"T, I SWEAR I didn't.  A huge room full of little old ladies was staring at us.

The dog did whatever dogs do to say "yup" and the uniform came over to me and said, with great authority, "Ma'm, does your pack contain any....fruit? "  We'd had apples we had eaten on the plane.  None left in the pack.  I later found out that at the time, beagles were "fruit dogs."

So my advice if you bring gluten free (i.e any) fruit with you to eat, leave the leavings on the plane. 

22 hours ago, Elisabeth Gerritsen said:

Easy to say, but when you are a diabetic, a few energy bars would not help me through  a 10 hours or more during flight with stops in between! I am glutenfree, lactose free and vegan! Impossible to find those in granola bars or so.

I think you missed the part about the sandwiches... 😉

Given your additional dietary restrictions it would be even more important for you to bring your own food on a flight.

No, all my food was taken from me while on transit in Dubai. I couldn't prove the ingredients and it was not factory packed and sealed.

I did not miss the sandwich part. But with my diabetes I also have to take "real meals" with me, so no snacks. Glutenfree sandwiches wit jelly or peanot butter get very soaky after  8 hours flight. Cheese is not allowed and I am a vegetarian, so no meat on my bread. I tried it all!

2 hours ago, Elisabeth Gerritsen said:

No, all my food was taken from me while on transit in Dubai. I couldn't prove the ingredients and it was not factory packed and sealed.

I did not miss the sandwich part. But with my diabetes I also have to take "real meals" with me, so no snacks. Glutenfree sandwiches wit jelly or peanot butter get very soaky after  8 hours flight. Cheese is not allowed and I am a vegetarian, so no meat on my bread. I tried it all!

Why not take a loaf of gluten free bread factory sealed, and possible cheese slices factory sealed?  Small jar of peanut butter factory sealed.  Make the sandwiches on the plane. If you can eat fish, smoked salmon factory sealed.  Etc.  Save those for Dubai.  Bring whatever your home airlines allow for the first leg of the flight.  

I am diabetic (on insulin) and also celiac.  There are in fact some low-carb "energy" bars that are gluten free. One brand is Smarte Carb.  Whether these are available where you are I don't know.  I don't have to worry much about "made in a facility that also processes...." or at least I don't get sick from them.  Those statements are often just legal statements and don't necessarily reflect the actual process. (I would avoid them if I had a peanut allergy, however.)

I have to time when I eat sandwiches, to account for the insulin, but it's doable.  

Never been to Dubai but it is not usual in general to have to go through customs when you are merely switching planes.  Is there any way that avoids Dubai?  

In any event, an airline meal that consists mostly of veggies, with no sauce, is unlikely to have gluten.  You don't HAVE to eat the crackers.  I can eat most sushi, for example, because I don't use the soy sauce.  I just avoid the stuff with internal sauces and count the carbs in the rice when calculating my insulin.  

20 hours ago, Elisabeth Gerritsen said:

No, all my food was taken from me while on transit in Dubai. I couldn't prove the ingredients and it was not factory packed and sealed.

I did not miss the sandwich part. But with my diabetes I also have to take "real meals" with me, so no snacks. Glutenfree sandwiches wit jelly or peanot butter get very soaky after  8 hours flight. Cheese is not allowed and I am a vegetarian, so no meat on my bread. I tried it all!

Clearly the message for those going to Dubai would be to make sure all food brought on a plane is factory sealed, which is a very odd requirement, but perhaps they have additional security concerns there. This should still be possible, and would be a better option than trying to rely of a safe airline meal. 

Thanks for the advice. But I don't eat cheese or butter (lactose) and I am a vegan too. Any food  you carry with you gives a problem. Most people in customs have no clue about celiac or lactose intolerance and so on. To cover their ignorance the bluntly say no and no further discussions possible. The same way I was not allowed to take my insuline in the airplane in Paris. After sending me from desk 1 to 2 and to 3 there at last was somebody who really knew the rules about insuline, so they let me take it with me. But by then my plane was already gone! 10 hours waiting in a lunchroom without glutenfree or lactosefree vegan food! That was the last time I went with Air France!

I love to fly with Emirates; they are such nice people and always try to help you. I flew to India many times and when I booked my trip, I just called directly to Emirates Amsterdam. They ordered vegan glutenfree food for me and advised me not to eat the contents in de alu foil but just take some dry crackers with you, nobody wil object. That worked fine. But my way home was horrible! The Indian cooks didn't know anything about gluten or lactose, so it was just not available in the plane. And the shops near Bangalore didn't sell that food either.

I normally stayed 3 months in India, and that is too long to keep food with you to return home with. I am 80 now and I don't fly anymore. Too much trouble!