A flight attendant with Cathay Pacific Airways mistakenly served a glass of white wine to a three-year-old boy seated in business class last month, raising concerns over the health risks caused by a mix-up of wrong drinks and food for passengers.
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The Post explores how easily a mix-up of drinks can happen during flights and outlines the steps passengers can take to protect themselves from accidentally consuming food that may affect their health.
1. How did a three-year-old get served wine?
A family of three boarded Cathay flight CX255 from Hong Kong to London on the night of April 24, with each of them occupying a business class seat: the boy by the window and his father next to him in the aisle. A crew member mistakenly served the boy a glass of wine instead of water that he ordered.
The boy took a sip and said the water was too sour. Another crew member apologised and replaced the drink, but the parents escalated the matter to a senior crew member, who then paged a French doctor on board. The doctor told the parents the child would be fine, adding that children as young as five could take alcohol in her country.
The senior crew member also sought ground-based medical advisory service via in-flight Medlink, and said no further advice was given except to give the boy more water and monitor the child. So far, the child has not reported any discomfort or sickness.
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The carrier offered to refund the child’s ticket with three one-class upgrade vouchers and cover the costs of any incident-related medical check-ups. But the parents were not satisfied, expressing concern over whether the alcohol sip her son took would result in long-term health issues.