<<Disclaimer:  Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
    I just returned from a trip earlier this evening.  As
I usually do, I flew with Northwest Airlines and ordered
a gluten-free meal.
 
    It is nice of them to offer to provide gluten-free
meals, but today as well as three or four times in the
recent past, the special meal I was given was not safe.
We're not talking some minor (though also to us dangerous)
ingredient, but regular pita bread (whole wheat, no less)
and a gourmet regular cookie!!!  Luckily they also provided
me with an apple, so I was able to eat _something_ besides
the GF snacks I had brought with me.
 
    In the past I have been served pasta (my husband verified
that as regular pasta, only unsalted), Total cereal, and
a regular sandwich, as well as a number of perfectly safe,
well-prepared, GF meals.  Please be careful with this airline -
they screw up often (in my experience, about 40% of the time).
 
    On this evening's trip, the steward spoke with me several
times. He told me he had written up a description of the
mistaken meal and that he was going to make sure it got to the
people who needed to see it.  I expressed my concern that
someone who did not question the food he/she was served might
end up getting quite ill.  I also said that I appreciated
the airline making the effort to accomodate me, but that I
would rather be told that Northwest could not meet my needs
than to risk making me extremely ill.  I plan to write
Northwest Airlines myself to make sure that the airline has
written documentation from me as well.
 
    So, if you do fly with Northwest Airlines and choose their
gluten-free meal, do be careful.  By the way, I don't want to
give Northwest a bad name here, I'm only concerned about the
health risks to celiacs and fellow food allergy sufferers.
 
                      Sincerely,
 
                      Kirsten Klinghammer
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