Most airline caterers (independent 3rd parties) mess up their special
meals, not realizing that there may be disasterous results for the victims
- er, I mean, passengers. Who knows why - it's most likely carelessness and
a lack of proper oversight.

Remember: it is a long time between when you start to react and when you
can reach emergency medical help.

My travel agent and many airlines have told me that the special "pure
vegetarian" meal is supposed to be completely free of all animal products,
and is the only reliable way to ask for a completely dairy-free meal.
"Reliable" here does not mean "guaranteed," only "it's supposed to be."
You could gamble and order a kosher meal, but only on a dinner flight,
since that's the only one that's strongly likely to be a meat meal (laws of
kashrut prohibit the mixing of milk and meat). The others are more likely
to be dairy meals, with little that is touchable.

 I'd say that, on the various airlines that I have traveled, they've gotten
it right only half of the time. Most often I get cheese, salad dressings or
margarines containing dairy ingredients, or desserts containing dairy. Once
I got a nearly perfect meal, except that the flight attendant threw on a
hot roll that contained dairy. Nearly had to use my EpiPen on that one!

I think the general consensus is that if you have severe or
life-threatening reactions to foods, airline food is extremely risky. Take
your own food; salivate at what others are eating; and treat yourself to a
*good* meal on the ground at your destination, with the money that you've
saved in insurance copays, emergency landing fees (?), and court costs (or,
heaven forbid, burial costs).


______________
Mark Feblowitz