Singer Dua Lipa took to social media this week criticizing United Airlines for how a flight attendant responded when they learned her sister had a nut allergy.
“I can’t believe I’m on a @united flight [right now] and I told the steward that my sister was severly [sic] allergic to nuts and his reply was ‘we’re not a nut free airline so if she has an epi pen she might have to use that as we can’t not serve other passengers in your section nuts.”
"Is it just me or is that kinda mental???" she added.
According to the airline’s posted policy, United "cannot guarantee an allergen-free meal or environment on its flights" due to the "presence of food allergens in the processing environment and in meals and snacks served."
"Further, it is not possible to prevent customers from bringing food items on board that contain major food allergens including peanuts," the policy states.
Passengers can notify flight attendants of concerns due to a severe food allery, the airline said.
“In some cases, we may be able to pass along your request to other customers seated nearby to refrain from opening and eating any allergen-containing products they may have brought on board,” the policy states.
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When asked if the attendant notified anyone else in the cabin of the concern, Lipa said “they didn’t.”
“They just said well we wont serve you two nuts but thats all we can do!” she wrote on Twitter.
United responded in a tweet saying “passenger safety is our top priority.”
“We can’t guarantee an allergen-free environment but we work to address allergy concerns onboard ie we don’t serve pre-packaged peanuts,” the airline tweeted. “We want to address your concerns so let’s connect when you land. We’ll contact our in-flight crew too.”
United Airlines did not offer any further comment on what happened.
