Flying Swiss Air with the Dairy Free 'Baby' (Part Two)... Or Thank God for Burger King!!

Having travelled Business class en route to Switzerland, The Hub (in his wisdom), decided we should return via Economy. The reasoning behind this was that we'd need less luggage allowance on the way home (you get more in Business), 'cos we'd have consumed our stocks of Free From food, and also because, for some reason, it was more expensive to upgrade to Business, for the return journey. 

The only issue I had with this arrangement was food. Apparently, there wasn't any provision provision for special diets in Economy - when travelling  short-haul, within Europe! Grr! 

Having left the travel arrangements in The Hub's usually quite capable hands, I was horrified to discover only the night before our return to the UK that The Hub had somehow omitted to work out what we were going to do for 'Baby' and me. In truth, I think he had mentioned to me something about it before, but in the maelstrom of all that happened in the last two months before Christmas, I don't think I took too much notice!!

So the questions was, what were we going to do?? 

Me? I could cope for a few extra hours without food but 'Baby'?? Well, you just don't want to KNOW what she's like when she is tired and hungry... our flight was scheduled for around her evening mealtime - just exactly when she WOULD be tired and hungry!! No panic there, then! 

Somehow I resisted the urge to scream!!

Instead, cue frantic searching of Zurich airport's website - for suitable restaurants!

There was just one that stood out - no not McDonald's this time but Burger King. Quelle horror! Okay, so not exactly ideal, but looking at their menus online, it seemed we might find something there to keep the proverbial wolf from the door! We had, by the way, visited Burger King in the past (when all else failed), but in the UK, so we needed to check, as restaurant chains sometimes have variations in the menu, and we needed to make sure!

Not quite Leon, but never knew I'd be so glad to see a Burger King!

As it happened, we didn't hang around for long in Burger King - partly because we wanted to head on down to Departures, but also because the grill-type restaurant next door was emitting a strong smell of cooked cheese. 

Delicious as it smelled, we are pretty sure that 'Baby' has had tummy aches as a result of spending too long in cafes where milk is being steamed and once her cheeks came up when The Hub made cheese toasties at home, so we thought best not to linger - just in case!!

Down in Departures, we tucked into our food. 'Baby's' offering was a chicken burger with fries:

'Baby's' Burger

It contained green stuff and a sauce, which wasn't to 'Baby's' taste, but The Hub was able to scrape enough away, with the edge of my knife, to persuade her to eat it.

Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much for me - salad and fries it was!! BUT, actually, the salad was quite big - bigger than the McDonald's salad I'd had in Zermatt!! Although perhaps not quite so fresh, however, time of day may have had something to do with that!

Better variety than the McDonald's salad too!

It was just as well that we had eaten before boarding the plane - for a start there was some delay, but also, because unsurprisingly, the food on board, needless to say, was unsuitable for both 'Baby' and Me.

The Hub's Swiss Air refreshment came in the shape of this sandwich-type thing - loaded with Swiss cheese!

Oo! If only!

As my fellow passengers enjoyed their gluten and dairy filled rolls, I glumly reflected that in in times past, I would have enjoyed them too. Unable to do a thing about it, I resolved to make the most of the liquid refreshment...

Examining the bottle for allergen information, I finally discovered that it contained Sulphites - I can cope with that!

... along with some Schar gluten free crackers, that I'd bought from the Co-op in Zermatt!

'Baby's' liquid lunch, well, dinner, was apple juice, accompanied by the remainder of  her Burger King fries and a few Waitrose Essential Bourbon biscuits, that we'd brought from England.

Anyone for a liquid lunch/tea?

Mind you, remembering how little we actually ate of our meals on the outward bound flight, had we travelled Business class a second time, would we actually have fared any better??


Other travelling issues aside, I must say, I was impressed with Zurich airport children's facilities! It has two rooms for families/children!!

The Nursery/Playroom, that we visited was amazing! It had toys, books, table football, toilets, nappy changing facilities, food preparation facilities, dining table and chairs - even a sleep room, for little ones (although, actually, I can imagine a few parents might find this a useful place to crash too)!!

It was attended by a welcoming lady and was kept very clean. This was obviously due, in part, to notices emphasizing that parents should clean up after using the nappy changing facilities and other bits and pieces. This is exactly how the Swiss operate in everyday life - everyone is expected to play their part and take responsibility for themselves, their homes, their pets etc. etc. - it governs every part of their lives. 

From a food allergy perspective, I was particularly impressed by this notice on the wall:

Look how spotless it all is!

How reassuring for parents of children with food allergies! You've just gotta love the Swiss' love of cleanliness and insistence on everyone taking responsibility for themselves!!

If we pass this way with 'Baby' again, I know exactly where I'll be heading!!

Related Posts:

Travelling with the Dairy Free 'Baby'

Leon at Heathrow Terminal Two



Flying Swiss Air with the Dairy Free 'Baby' (Part One)



Why we're lovin' McDonald's

Flying Swiss Air with the Dairy Free 'Baby' (Part One)

It's taken a lot for The Hub to persuade me to go skiing this year - up 'till now, nearly all our holidays with 'Baby' have been at Center Parcs - where I know what I'm letting myself in for (see here)!!

It's not that I didn't want to go - it was just the fear of not finding food that was safe enough for us to eat that was holding me back.

Having agreed to go, I can't say my pessimism was lifted when The Hub discovered that Swiss Air could provide either gluten free food or dairy free food, but not both at the same time (see here for more information about their 'Special Diet' meals) and that was travelling Business Class!! Travel Economy, and if you are flying to Zurich, all you are offered is a sandwich. Knowing that Leon Restaurants had opened a branch at Terminal Two at Heathrow (and also Terminal Three), and that the flight would only be an hour or so, placated me somewhat - regarding the outward bound journey, anyway!

Flying business on the outward bound flight meant we were allowed to carry extra baggage - which we definitely needed for the purpose of carrying extra supplies of food and dairy free milk for our holiday! It turned out that upgrading to Business Class was cheaper from the London end (not that much of an additional cost, according to The Hub) but was somewhat more expensive from the other end. So he didn't book it for the return flight, as by then, our luggage should be that much lighter - assuming we had consumed all our supplies of free from food!! (NB Check out Travelling with the Dairy Free Baby, for more tips for travelling by air, contributed by folks from our FB page.)

Must admit, the idea of the free lounge that comes with travelling Business class, although not strictly necessary, appealed! Free coffee as much as anything else!! But what with an extra check-in for bulky luggage that was going to be transferred straight to our final destination and needing to get food from Leon, access to the lounge went straight out of the window - we simply didn't have enough time. The MIL was horrified that we hadn't used the free lounge. She'd been through the day before and told me that all the food was very good - all organic. Yeeeeeeeeeees! We're still having to educate our families about what it means to be gluten/dairy free! 

Once aboard, strapped in, and mid-air, I discovered that 'Baby's' meal was labelled 'low lactose' - which was enough to set my dairy free alarm bells ringing and make me groan. Later on, when the basket of free chocolate did the rounds (Swiss Air always do this) they kindly offered her lactose free chocolate. 'Uh, no thanks!! She has an allergy to milk,' I replied. Cue total look of confusion on air stewardess's face!

Having since looked at the website (I'd left it to The Hub, who was booking the flight, to look into all this), I have now discovered that they give the option for a 'lactose free' meal, which is free of dairy products. Hmm! One of my pet hates - confusion between lactose free and dairy free!!

However, on inspection, it looked OK - dried fruit some salmon, couscous etc. - although the bread roll wrapper said that it may contain milk - something we'd usually avoid, due to previous experience. 

'Baby's' meal.

Feeling I had little choice but to let 'Baby' have the bread roll, I reluctantly halved it and handed it over to her to spread with the margarine that had been provided.

As it happened, 'Baby' quickly decided that she didn't like it - within one bite - which, it turned out, was just as well. Becel Original (the spread that was provided) is made with whey from milk (see here), which I only discovered by searching online later that evening. Grrrrr!!!

Good job 'Baby' is not anaphylactic, isn't it?? Although to be fair, if she was, I very much doubt that I'd have taken the risk with the bread in the first place - I'd probably have brought along all our own food.

The Becel spread

In fact, 'Baby' very soon decided that nothing on the tray was suitable, '...for a little girl like me!' (Her words, not mine!) She ended up with half of one of the fries I'd purchased from Leon, prior to boarding, and a few chunks of the chicken (once I'd wiped the sauce off)! Under duress, she also ate a few of the black grapes - once I'd halved and de-pipped them!

After that, I gave up trying and handed her a packet of crisps from my bag. I'd never normally let her eat a whole pack by herself, but needs must!!

My meal on board Swiss Air

My gluten free meal was similar to 'Baby's', but with the addition of a slice of Gruyere cheese - which was soon passed to The Hub. I then discovered that the gluten free bread roll was useless for me - it definitely contained milk - no 'may contain' about it!

The gluten free roll

I ate the apricots, couscous, salmon and grapes. I would have gone for 'Baby's' salmon as well, but It looked as though she'd got gluteny crumbs all over hers by the time I thought of it!

Unfortunately, I am intolerant of pineapple and suffer from OAS (oral allergy syndrome - the worst reaction I ever had was to raw pepper), I didn't dare risk the raw pepper, therefore I had to avoid the rest of the food on my tray.

So it was a good job I'd purchased some lunch from Leon, at Terminal Two at Heathrow (see here)!

Lunch from Leon!

Whilst I appreciate Swiss Air can't offer all multiple allergy sufferers choice - it would be an impossible task to provide so many combinations. My OAS, for example, is such a curved ball, that I don't usually mention it - just pick off the bits I can't eat (you can't do this if you are anaphylactic of course). 

I do wish, however, they'd consider that many Coeliacs (suffering from a medically recognised disease requiring complete avoidance of all gluten) are intolerant to dairy - certainly initially and that many others not Coeliac, but perhaps suffering from a less specific intolerance are also now finding that they can't consume gluten and dairy - it's certainly becoming more common.

That said, there are now companies out there who can and do manufacture ready meals completely free from the top fourteen allergens. There's Ilumi, in England, and Natama - the company that supply Disneyland, in Paris. 

Hopefully, one day, companies like Swiss Air will realise the benefits of buying in such meals - they won't then have to stock so many different kinds of meals for allergies but just one that hits the top fourteen.

Until then, if you're from the UK and you are travelling, I'd strongly recommend taking a look at Ilumi's website, if you haven't done so already,  their long life ready meals are tasty and really reasonably priced. As for Natama, well find out what I thought of their meals here.)

Postscript: 

Have since realized the bread roll on the dairy free tray looked like it DIDN'T contain gluten, I wonder if I should have had that instead?! See the 'sans gluten' on the top right of my picture?

Label for the bread roll on the 'low lactose' meal.

Oh well!

Related Posts:

Travelling with the Dairy Free 'Baby'

Leon at Heathrow Terminal Two

Eating Dairy and Gluten Free in Resort Hotels at Disneyland Paris