Canadian Backpacker’s Terrifying Experience with Mislabelled Gluten-Free Food on Flight to LA

Backpacker Chloë Chapdelaine (25) from Calgary in Canada experienced “the worst flight of her life” when she flew from Dubai to Los Angeles last Monday.

The journey takes about 15 hours, and on the journey Chloë, who has celiac disease, was served breakfast. The tray was labeled “gluten-free”.

This is written by the news agency Kennedy News and Media.

– Got a bad feeling

On the tray was a hot dish, some fruit and some wrapped croissants, which admittedly did not have their own “gluten-free” label.

– When I ate the one croissant, I got a really bad feeling. It tasted so good, and I have never tasted such a good gluten-free croissant before, she tells the news agency.

That made the 25-year-old doubt whether it was actually gluten-free.

– I asked a flight attendant if it was actually gluten-free, she says – and goes on to say:

– She turned pale and went to check. When she came back, she told me that the croissant shouldn’t have been on my tray and it wasn’t gluten free. I was completely shocked and started to panic.

– Quite terrifying

Chloë says that, as a result of her celiac disease, she is very sensitive to gluten, and that she can react to even traces of gluten or cross-contamination.

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Celiac disease is a chronic autoimmune disease caused by a hypersensitivity to gluten, according to The pocket doctor. Those with celiac disease cannot eat gluten-containing food, as this leads to inflammation of the intestine.

– To hear that I have eaten half a croissant with gluten, which is actually quite a lot and far more than what I have reacted to in the past, was really frightening.

The 25-year-old has shared a video clip of herself on TikTok, where she tearfully explains what happened. At the same time, she tries to throw up the croissant in an attempt to reduce her intake of gluten.

– I’m terrified

– If I hadn’t done that, my body would have suffered even more damage. I felt the other symptoms too, and it just got worse and worse, she says.

Abdominal cramps and diarrhea

To Kennedy News, she explains why she reacted so strongly:

– I wasn’t upset because I had broken a gluten-free diet, but because I knew I was going to have to deal with a number of symptoms the following week, she says.

She spent the next hour with her head hanging over the airplane toilet. For the rest of the flight Chloë felt nauseous, had stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

She also claims she suffered an itchy rash and psychological after-effects from what happened – including heart fog and depression.

According to Lommelegen, one in ten people with celiac disease develop a troublesome rash, called dermatitis herpetiformis.

– Not the first time

Chloë says she hasn’t eaten gluten for almost nine years, ever since she was diagnosed with celiac disease.

– This is not the first time I have had problems with airplane food. The last time I luckily realized it before I ate the food, otherwise the same thing would have happened, she says.

Now the Canadian influencer is urging airlines to take allergies and food intolerances seriously. She claims she has often checked in for a flight only to find the airline has forgotten her food.

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– I feel that celiac disease is not always taken as seriously as with nut allergies. People with allergies or intolerances deserve to feel safe and to be taken seriously, and that’s not always the case, she says.

She emphasizes that the flight attendants from Emirates showed sympathy towards her. She has lodged a formal complaint with the airline but has heard nothing from them.

Kennedy News and Media has repeatedly tried to contact Emirates, but they have not yet responded to the inquiries.