Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

gluten-free Meal When Flying

Kottemamman

Recommended Posts

Kottemamman Apprentice
Kottemamman
Posted

I was flying SAS from Sweden to the US recently. Two weeks in advance I ordered my special meal, vegetarian gluten-free (I eat meat, but as I am allergic to all fish&seafood I have to stick to the vegetarian meal when traveling). I asked specifically if this was a combination they couldn

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


dancer4jc Newbie
dancer4jc
Posted

I hear ya

I flew to Italy on Delta, and the gluten-free dinner was "unavailable" despite being assured that it would be on the flight at check in, and for breakfast they brought Cornflakes. There was nothing edible on the whole flight!!!

Mango04 Enthusiast
Mango04
Posted

A good rule of thumb is always to assume that no airline (or anything/anyone else for that matter) will be able to accomodate your dietary needs. I too learned the hard way to always have my own food with me everywhere I go no matter what. Sorry it didn't work out....

burdee Enthusiast
burdee
Posted
A good rule of thumb is always to assume that no airline (or anything/anyone else for that matter) will be able to accomodate your dietary needs. I too learned the hard way to always have my own food with me everywhere I go no matter what. Sorry it didn't work out....

I totally agree. Neither of the airlines we use provide any special dietary consideration meals. Most of the flights don't provide any meal service. I've gone through calling and asking for special meals even before I learned I was celiac with 4 additional food allergies. I experienced lots of hits and misses with airline food. So after my diagnoses, I decided to just bring my own food. My husband and I always pack meal food in our 'carry on' backpacks. Since I'm gluten, dairy, soy, egg and cane sugar allergic, I bring canned sardines, rice cakes and dried fruit or peanut butter and banana (or peach) sandwiches on gluten free bread and LARA bars for snacks on 6-8 hour flights to Maui. Sometimes my husband will take 2 meals of whatever is served and just pick off anything that's safe (fruit, dry salads, napkins), since we essentially paid for the meals with our flight. I don't want to mess with airline food at all.

BURDEE

Phyllis28 Apprentice
Phyllis28
Posted

On flights that serve food (very few anymore) I have had fairly good luck getting a gluten free meal. I have never tried to order a meal with multiple restrictions. I always, however carry enough of my own food for the flight just in case.

kbtoyssni Contributor
kbtoyssni
Posted

I usually fly American Airlines and they can do vegetarian OR gluten-free, not both. So I pick gluten-free, and hope for the best on the veggie part. They're generally pretty good, but they almost always include this four-grain cracker that contains barley, rye, and oats... At least it's wheat free??? It's individually wrapped so it's not like it's contaminated the rest of my dinner, but it makes me worry about their ability to provide a truly gluten-free meal.

Stargirl* Newbie
Stargirl*
Posted

We fly with Emirates. Their meal service is very good and their gluten-free meals are really, truly gluten free. Oh and absolutely beautiful too. Yum, yum. They also do fruit platters and raw vege platters for the gluten-free vegetarian. :)

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


SydneyGF Rookie
SydneyGF
Posted

I have flew Maylsian Airlines and on the first leg of the trip Sydney to London the gluten free meal was great, real gluten free food and the breakfast was just as good as their normal service. For such I long flight I was very pleased.

But then I hit the return trip back to Sydney and the meal was very different, the odd rice cake but nothing exciting and the dinner was boiled veggies and a warm piece of chicken. It like they changed the menu drasticly. During lunch everyone else got a huge bread roll sandwich and yougurt and for me they gave me 1 rice cake and 2 apples.

Next week I'm flying Qantas Sydney to San Francisco and hope their food is better.

Will always take extra snacks just in case

hathor Contributor
hathor
Posted
We fly with Emirates. Their meal service is very good and their gluten-free meals are really, truly gluten free. Oh and absolutely beautiful too. Yum, yum. They also do fruit platters and raw vege platters for the gluten-free vegetarian. :)

Thank you, thank you. This gives me hope! For my last vacation (to Europe, so there WERE meals :lol: ), I found I had to decide between vegetarian & gluten-free. I went with vegetarian & just ate extra veggie stuff I could have from my husband's & daughter's meals. I figured that with strict vegetarian (vegan) there would be something I could eat, while with gluten-free I could see the possibility there would be nothing (I can't tolerate casein or egg & don't want meat). Of course, I packed food as well to supplement.

But Emirates looks good & seems to fly all over. It is strange they don't go from any of the three airports in the DC area, though.

Mango04 Enthusiast
Mango04
Posted
Next week I'm flying Qantas Sydney to San Francisco and hope their food is better.

Will always take extra snacks just in case

Take lots of extra food with you when you fly Qantas. I flew with them a few years ago and ordered special meals, but on the plane they had no record of the fact that I had done so. Don't count on them being able to feed you....

kml55 Rookie
kml55
Posted

flying is so frustrating, especially when it is a long flight...yes bringing my own food is what i opt for.

I think that CC is my biggest fear when flying and eating food in flight.

Joanne11 Apprentice
Joanne11
Posted

I flew British Airways this spring. I had to call to get the gluten free meal option it wasn't on the website, but I had good meals on the two long legs of the trip baltiomre to london and back, on the shorter flights I did not get a gluten free option london to rome and back. I also brought a lot of snacks along with me incase I didn't get a meal. But I have to say for airline food the gluten free meals weren't bad.

lisalou Newbie
lisalou
Posted

I just returned from a trip to France and Switzerland on US Airways. Although the plane was pretty scary (ie: duct tape holding the tray tables together and everything from no water in the bathroom to a hole in the wall, yikes!), I did get my gluten-free meal both ways. Not that it was that fabulous, but eating anything besides dried fruit and gluten-free crackers was sounding pretty good. Both times I was offered a rice dish with chicken, with an edible gluten-free bun. I am also vegetarian, but decided to only do what I really must have, and just eat around the offending fowl.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,548
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Lunaluv
    Newest Member
    Lunaluv
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Taken Seriously

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Your post demonstrates the profound frustration and isolation that so many in the Celiac community feel, and I want to thank you for channeling that experience into advocacy. The medical gaslighting you endured for decades is an unacceptable and, sadly, a common story, and the fact that you now have to "school" your own GI specialist speaks volumes about the critical lack of consistent and updated education. Your idea to make Celiac Disease a reportable condition to public health authorities is a compelling and strategic one. This single action would force the system to formally acknowledge the prevalence and seriousness of the disease, creating a concrete dataset that could drive better research funding, shape medical school curricula, and validate the patient experience in a way that individual stories alone often cannot. It is an uphill battle, but contacting representatives, as you have done with Adam Gray, is exactly how change begins. By framing it as a public health necessity—a matter of patient safety and protection from misdiagnosis and neglect—you are building a powerful case. Your voice and your perseverance, forged through thirty years of struggle, are exactly what this community needs to ensure that no one else has to fight so hard just to be believed and properly cared for.
    • Scott Adams
      Looking for a gluten-free roomie in Denver CO

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I had no idea there is a "Louisville" in Colorado!😉 I thought it was a typo because I always think of the Kentucky city--but good luck!
    • Scott Adams
      Allergy medication: cetirizine by the HealthA2Z is it gluten free?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Navigating medication safety with Celiac disease can be incredibly stressful, especially when dealing with asthma and severe allergies on top of it. While I don't have personal experience with the HealthA2Z brand of cetirizine, your caution is absolutely warranted. The inactive ingredients in pills, known as excipients, are often where gluten can be hidden, and since the FDA does not require gluten-free labeling for prescription or over-the-counter drugs, the manufacturer's word is essential. The fact that you cannot get a clear answer from Allegiant Health is a significant red flag; a company that is confident its product is gluten-free will typically have a customer service protocol to answer that exact question. In situations like this, the safest course of action is to consider this product "guilty until proven innocent" and avoid it. A better alternative would be to ask your pharmacist or doctor to help you identify a major national brand of cetirizine (like Zyrtec) whose manufacturer has a verified, publicly stated gluten-free policy for that specific medication. It's not worth the risk to your health when reliable, verifiable options are almost certainly available to you. You can search this site for USA prescriptions medications, but will need to know the manufacturer/maker if there is more than one, especially if you use a generic version of the medication: To see the ingredients you will need to click on the correct version of the medication and maker in the results, then scroll down to "Ingredients and Appearance" and click it, and then look at "Inactive Ingredients," as any gluten ingredients would likely appear there, rather than in the Active Ingredients area. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/   
    • Scott Adams
      Protein or fat?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      What you're describing is indeed familiar to many in the Celiac community, especially in the early stages of healing. When the intestinal villi are damaged from Celiac disease, they struggle to properly digest and absorb fats, a condition known as bile acid malabsorption. This can cause exactly the kind of cramping and spasms you're seeing, as undigested fats can irritate the sensitive gut lining. It is highly plausible that her reactions to dairy and eggs are linked to their higher fat content rather than the proteins, especially since she tolerates lean chicken breast. The great news is that for many, this does improve with time. As her gut continues to heal on a strict gluten-free diet, her ability to produce the necessary enzymes and bile to break down fats should gradually return, allowing her to slowly tolerate a wider variety of foods. It's a slow process of healing, but your careful approach of focusing on low-fat, nutrient-dense foods like seeds and avocado is providing her system the best possible environment to recover. Many people with celiac disease, especially those who are in the 0-2 year range of their recovery, have additional food intolerance issues which could be temporary. To figure this out you may need to keep a food diary and do an elimination diet over a few months. Some common food intolerance issues are dairy/casein, eggs, corn, oats, and soy. The good news is that after your gut heals (for most people who are 100% gluten-free this will take several months to two years) you may be able to slowly add some these items back into your diet after the damaged villi heal. This article may be helpful: Thank you for sharing your story—it's a valuable insight for other parents navigating similar challenges.
    • Beverage
      Diagnosed celiac for 1-2 months ago and everything makes me bloated.

      By Beverage · Posted

      I had a very rough month after diagnosis. No exaggeration, lost so much inflammatory weight, I looked like a bag of bones, underneath i had been literally starving to death. I did start feeling noticeably better after a month of very strict control of my kitchen and home. What are you eating for breakfast and lunch? I ignored my doc and ate oats, yes they were gluten free, but some brands are at the higher end of gluten free. Lots of celics can eat Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats, but not me. I can now eat them, but they have to be grown and processed according to the "purity protocol" methods. I mail order them, Montana Gluten-Free brand. A food and symptoms and activities log can be helpful in tracking down issues. You might be totally aware, but I have to mention about the risk of airborne gluten. As the doc that diagnosed me warned . . Remember eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all lead to your stomach and intestines.  Are you getting any cross contamination? Airborne gluten? Any pets eating gluten (they eat it, lick themselves, you pet them...)? Any house remodeling? We live in an older home, always fixing something. I've gotten glutened from the dust from cutting into plaster walls, possibly also plywood (glues). The suggestions by many here on vitamin supplements also really helped me. I had some lingering allergies and asthma, which are now 99% gone. I was taking Albuterol inhaler every hour just to breathe, but thiamine in form of benfotiamine kicked that down to 1-2 times a day within a few days of starting it. Also, since cutting out inflammatory seed oils (canola, sunflower, grapeseed, etc) and cooking with real olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, and coconut oil, I have noticed even greater improvement overall and haven't used the inhaler in months! It takes time to weed out everything in your life that contains gluten, and it takes awhile to heal and rebuild your health. At first it's mentally exhausting, overwhelming, even obsessive, but it gets better and second nature.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.