NEED TO KNOW

• Mia Silverman is a food allergy advocate and content creator, living with over 50 food allergies

• In January 2026, the 22-year-old posted a TikTok video of herself boarding a plane and asking the cabin crew to make an announcement about her airborne nut allergy

• After a slew of negative comments, Silverman tells PEOPLE she is no longer “surprised” given there is still so much “misinformation and ignorance out there”

In January 2026, Mia Silverman posted a TikTok of herself boarding a plane, introducing herself to the flight crew and asking for an announcement about her severe, airborne nut allergy. The video quickly amassed more than five million views, along with a wave of mixed reactions.

While some viewers thanked her for raising awareness, others accused her of “overreacting” and claimed her allergy was “fake.” For Silverman, however, the moment was never about going viral and more about survival. “Living with severe food allergies means I have to think about a lot of things most people never have to consider,” the 22-year-old content creator tells PEOPLE. “It can sound exhausting, but this has been my reality my entire life, so it’s something I’ve learned to navigate.”

Silverman lives with an extensive list of life-threatening allergies that includes nuts (except almonds and macadamia nuts), seeds, fish, shellfish, dairy, eggs, many fruits and vegetables, certain spices, food colorings and numerous additives and preservatives. “Peanuts are one of my most severe allergies. If I ingest them, it can very quickly become life-threatening,” she reveals. “I also react to airborne exposure if it’s in close proximity to me.”

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To this day, Silverman still vividly remembers a moment in seventh grade when a classmate opened a peanut butter and jelly sandwich beside her. “Within minutes, I started breaking out in hives and felt my throat beginning to tighten. It became hard to breathe and swallow,” she recalls.

Those symptoms are often the first warning signs. “Sometimes there’s a throbbing pain in my throat as it starts to close, my lips will swell and tingle, I can get nausea or vomit, my chest can feel tight, and more recently I’ve noticed my ears getting red and really itchy,” Silverman explains. “It’s different every time, which is part of what makes it so scary.”

Having gone through a number of emergency situations in her life, Silverman says they have greatly shaped every decision she makes — especially when traveling. “I always carry epinephrine with me, along with antihistamines and my inhaler,” she says. “I don’t leave the house without them. When I travel, I’m extra careful.”

Before flights, Silverman requests pre-boarding, speaks directly with flight attendants and asks for announcements requesting nearby passengers to avoid nuts. She wipes down her seat area thoroughly, wears a KN95 mask to reduce airborne exposure and packs sharable, allergy-friendly snacks to make the situation feel collaborative rather than confrontational.

In reality, asking for an announcement is not a preference, but rather a precaution for Silverman. “Peanut allergies, and really any severe food allergy, need to be taken seriously,” she emphasizes, comparing it to gasoline.

“There’s no ‘safe’ amount of gasoline you can drink. Even a small amount would be incredibly dangerous and require medical attention,” Silverman explains. “For someone with a severe food allergy, it’s similar.”

Despite online skepticism, Silverman says the negative comments no longer cut as deeply as they once did. “When someone takes time out of their day to leave a hateful comment, it usually says more about what they’re going through than it does about me,” she shares.

In fact, disbelief only strengthens her commitment to speaking out. “When people say things like my allergies are ‘fake,’ it honestly just reinforces why I do this work in the first place,” she says.

For nearly six years, Silverman has used her platform to share practical information, challenge misconceptions and build community for others navigating severe food allergies. “I think when people understand that it’s a biological, immune response and not a preference or a fear, it helps them realize why even small exposures can be a big deal for someone like me,” she explains.

Her goal is to make reliable allergy education easier to find, break down harmful stigma, and remind people they are not alone in an experience that can often feel isolating and overwhelming. “What I’ve learned… is that when you’re living with food allergies, you kind of have two choices,” Silverman tells PEOPLE. “You can let your allergies control you and hold you back from experiences, or you can decide that you’re going to be the one in charge.”

For her, speaking up on that plane — and online — is simply part of choosing to thrive.

Read the original article on People