Thanksgiving and the December holidays are among the busiest travel periods of the year. For a family managing food allergies, the destination is often the easy part. The hard part is the stretch in between: airport food courts, the snack cart, and a two-hour delay at the gate with a hungry kid.
Here is how to pack allergy-friendly travel snacks that get through security, hold up for a long day, and keep your seat area as clean as you can make it.
Pack for the delay, not the flight
Plan food for the whole door-to-door trip, then add at least one extra meal. Delays happen, and the airport is a poor place to find safe food. Grab-and-go items often don't show a full ingredient list, and food-court kitchens may share fryers, grills and prep surfaces. The snack on the cart is often pretzels, cookies or a nut mix, and you can't always read a full label at 30,000 feet.
One more rule: don't try a new food on a plane. Pack only foods your child has already eaten safely at home.
What gets through security
- Solid food is fine. TSA allows solid foods in carry-on bags: granola, crackers, dry cereal, sandwiches and whole fruit. Officers may ask you to take food out of your bag for separate screening, so pack it near the top.
- Spreads and dips count as liquids or gels. Yogurt, applesauce, hummus and seed butters must be 3.4 oz (100 ml) or less per container and fit in your quart bag. A sunflower seed butter sandwich is a solid; the jar is not.
- Traveling with a baby or toddler? Formula, breast milk, juice and baby food pouches for a young child are allowed in reasonable quantities above 3.4 oz. Take them out of your bag and tell the officer at the start of screening.
- Epinephrine goes in your carry-on. Auto-injectors are allowed through security. Never put them in a checked bag. Carry what your allergist prescribed, plus a copy of your allergy action plan.
- Flying internationally, or leaving Hawaii or Puerto Rico? Agricultural rules restrict fresh fruit, vegetables and some meats. Eat fresh produce before you land, declare any food you still have, and keep shelf-stable snacks for later.
Snacks that travel well
The best travel snacks are dry, shelf-stable, need no fridge, and come with a label you can read.
- Granola in small containers. It is light, shelf-stable, and works as a snack or an emergency breakfast. Not every granola is allergy-friendly: many contain nuts, honey, milk powder, or wheat or barley malt. Our 12 oz granola product page lists every flavor as free from the top 9 allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and sesame. Original is the one whose ingredient list names no seeds. Mixed Berry contains flaxseed and amaranth, and its dried cranberries are made with sunflower oil. Banana Cinnamon and Coconut Cranberry contain coconut, which some families with tree-nut allergies avoid. Original may be made on the same equipment as flavors that contain seeds, so if a seed allergy is severe, contact us about shared equipment before you buy. Allergen statements and ingredient lists differ between our pack sizes, so check the page for the size you buy.
- A homemade trail mix. You control every ingredient. Our nut-free trail mix for kids has six combinations that pack well.
- Fruit that doesn't bruise. Clementines and apples survive a backpack better than bananas or berries.
- A safe sandwich, packed last. It is a solid, so it clears security. Eat it within 2 hours, or pack it with an ice pack. TSA allows ice packs if they are frozen solid at screening, with exceptions for packs cooling medication, breast milk or formula.
Take the original bag, or a photo of the label, for anything you've moved into a smaller container. If someone asks what's in it, or you need to double-check mid-trip, the ingredient list is right there. For more ideas, see our list of top 9 allergen-free snacks for kids.
On board: clean the seat area
- Ask about pre-boarding. Many airlines let passengers with food allergies board early to wipe down their seats. Policies vary, so check your airline's allergy policy before you book and ask again at the gate.
- Wipe surfaces, wash hands. Clean the tray table, armrests, seatbelt buckle, window shade and seatback screen with disposable wipes. In a 2004 study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, soap and water and commercial wipes removed peanut allergen from hands, while hand sanitizer left detectable allergen on some hands. Wash or wipe hands before eating, too.
- Cover what you can. A disposable tray-table cover or a clean cloth gives your child's food a surface you control.
- Tell the crew. Some airlines will make an announcement or ask nearby passengers not to eat nuts, but no airline can promise an allergen-free cabin.
- Keep epinephrine within reach. Keep it in your seat area or the bag under the seat in front of you, not in the overhead bin.
When you get there
Keep a backup stash for the first morning, before you know what's in your host's pantry. If you are staying with family for Thanksgiving, our allergy-friendly Thanksgiving breakfast plan covers the meal before the big meal.
Before you go
Whatever you pack, ours included, read the ingredient list and allergen statement on the package in your hand. Recipes and labels change. Buying for someone with celiac disease? "Wheat-free" is not the same as gluten-free, and oats can pick up gluten from shared fields and equipment. Confirm gluten-free status with the manufacturer. And talk to your allergist before a long trip, especially if you're flying abroad. This post is general guidance, not medical advice.
Safe travels, and enjoy the holidays.