Woman with nut allergy feared she could die after pecan pie on flight menu

A woman with a severe allergy has pleaded with airlines to stop serving foods with nuts after a close call during a long-haul flight.

Josie North, who has a life-threatening allergy to nuts, was travelling from Los Angeles back to London on a 10-hour Virgin Atlantic flight when she saw that pecan pie was on the menu.

The 28-year-old, who documents her struggles with allergies and skin issues on social media, claims she had been told no actual nuts would be served during the long-haul journey last month.

Unable to get through to Virgin Atlantic’s help desk 48 hours before the flight, Josie arrived at the airport four hours prior to her departure to make staff aware of her situation.

She claims a staff member told her no actual nuts would be on the flight, although they couldn’t promise that foods containing traces of nuts would not be on board, which is something Josie is used to hearing.

At the start of the flight, she had to ask the crew to make a second announcement after they allegedly mistakenly told the plane she had a peanut allergy, while Josie is allergic to all nuts.

Then 15 minutes into the flight, Josie saw the chocolate pecan pie listed on the menu, which made her ‘sick to my stomach.’

She told Need To Know: ‘There was a chance I could die if that many people around me were eating nuts all at once.

‘I told him [the attendant] there was just no way this pecan pie could be served.

‘This was a very scary situation for me.

‘If I was told they were serving actual nuts, and everyone around me is going to be eating nuts – I wouldn’t have got on the flight.’

In an exchange filmed by Josie, she tells the flight attendant: ‘If I was told they are serving actual nuts to everyone around me, I wouldn’t have gotten on the flight.

‘That is so dangerous.’

Josie says she told the crew ‘I might die’ after allegedly being told that it was not a fully nut-free airline.

The crew then alerted the captain ‘to make the ultimate decision,’ Josie says, which resulted in the pecan pie being taken off the menu and replaced with Oreos and KitKat bars.

Josie says on TikTok she is ‘baffled’ by airlines’ choice of nut items on their menus.

She adds: ‘Maybe there is someone on the flight that’s not come forward actively and say they have a nut allergy like myself?

‘What happens if there’s a baby or a toddler on the flight who doesn’t even know yet they have an allergy to nuts, and you’re going around filling the aircraft with nut fumes?

‘All the desserts in the world you could have chosen – apple crumble, brownies, anything – and you choose pecan pie.

‘What’s the issue of having a nut-free flight? Why is it so necessary for someone to have a pecan pie mid-air?’

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told Metro: ‘We’d like to apologise to Ms North for any incorrect information she may have received prior to her recent flight with us. We would like to reassure her that a full investigation is taking place.

‘The health and safety of our customers is always our top priority and for any special requirements including allergies we ask that customers inform our Accessible Travel Services teams in advance of their flight.

‘For the safety of any customers travelling with an allergy we would strongly encourage customers to take all necessary precautions including bringing their own subsistence on board and to prepare for the possibility of inadvertent exposure.’

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