This post is a week late as I left the conference in St. John's last Sunday for the over heated climates of Toronto and the Ottawa Valley in June. I've just landed in Dublin on my way home, and I am feeling thankful for grey rainy days.
Anyway, on the last day of the conference, we were given packed lunches as everyone was leaving at different times and some of us were leaving before the ending to catch flights.
I asked if I had a special one packed due to my dietary needs and was told 'no' as the contents does not contain any of my allergens. So I inspected the bag before walking away with it. Let's have a look.
Anyway, on the last day of the conference, we were given packed lunches as everyone was leaving at different times and some of us were leaving before the ending to catch flights.
I asked if I had a special one packed due to my dietary needs and was told 'no' as the contents does not contain any of my allergens. So I inspected the bag before walking away with it. Let's have a look.
Looks innocent enough
The contents. On the surface, nothing wrong here.
About a third of us were going to the airport before lunch. While I would normally be very happy to be given a bottle of orange juice, I can't take it through airport security.
Yogurt, which I love. Except that yogurt is treated as a gel by airport security. See above. And as yummy as blackberries are, they don't really mix with a low fibre diet.
Granny Smith apple. Love these. But I have to peel them as the peel is all insoluble fibre and even if I had a knife, I can't take that through airport security.
Sandwich. White bread and ham. Pretty boring. Except it's full of mayo. Which is mostly eggs, which I am intolerant too and is on the list if allergens I gave when registering for the conference. This is on of my British pet peeves because mayo is on most commercially pre-prepared sandwiches in the UK. And not only is it full of eggs, it's also gross.
Cookies. Oatmeal raisin cookies. And I'm allergic to grapes. Which was definitely on the list of allergies I gave the conference staff.
So, the two things I can get through airport security contain things I can't eat. I asked the staff person giving them out what was on my dietary needs list. Only things listed were shellfish and grapes. Not eggs, soya or fish, nor that I am on a low fibre diet for Crohn's Disease despite me giving all this information when I registered for the conference. I guess they were only interested in protecting themselves from the liability of directly killing me through a full blown allergic reaction and not about making me sick. Cheers for that!
I didn't bother arguing about it. The woman giving them out is pretty low down the food chain there and it was the last day anyway. When I got through airport security, I went straight to Tim Horton's for a bagel with cream cheese and a double chocolate donut. Like all good Canadian expats do when in Canada.
No comments:
Post a Comment