The parents of a Melbourne toddler have urged all airlines to stop serving peanuts after their three-year-old son suffered a potentially fatal allergic reaction mid-flight.

Chris and Hong Daley were travelling home from a holiday to Thailand last Wednesday and asked Singapore Airlines for a nut-free meal for their son, Marcus, who suffers from anaphylaxis.

He received the special meal but they had not expected other passengers to be served peanuts as a snack, and say when hundreds of packets were opened at once a mist and smell from the nuts filled the cabin.

Mr Daley, who is a doctor specialising in respiratory issues, said two minutes later his son said "I don't feel good" before quickly becoming severely ill.

"With peanut dust, when you open a packet, part of what you can smell is tiny fragments of peanuts which are going up into the air," he said.

"He started vomiting, his eyes were starting to swell and he couldn't speak properly."

Mr Daley said fortunately the family was carrying four pens of adrenaline and other anti-allergy medication, which quickly brought the situation under control.

The Daleys were carrying four EpiPens on their trip, one of which they used to help their son. ( Supplied )

It was the first time Marcus had been given adrenaline to treat his peanut allergy and his leg was cut by the needle as he wriggled in his seat.

Ms Daley said other families sitting nearby began to panic as well.

"The family behind us, the mother was quite traumatised because she felt that she had caused it, and her children, and she kept apologising," she said.

They were less than an hour into the seven-hour flight, however once the danger had passed Dr Daley decided it was safe for his son to continue on to Melbourne.

Mr Daley said he fears for other airline passengers the condition may prove deadly.

"If we don't do something about it, it's not going to be long before there are a number of fatalities in flight," he said.

Marcus Daley (left) and his brother Alexander were flying home from an overseas holiday when the allergic reaction occurred. ( Supplied )

Couple say they were 'brushed off' by Singapore Airlines

A friend of the Daley family, who is also a doctor, was on the same flight and experienced a relatively minor allergic reaction to the peanuts.

Singapore Airlines says even if it does ban peanuts, it cannot control what passengers bring onboard. ( Facebook )

She complained on the airline's Facebook page, asking them to stop serving peanuts.

The company responded by saying even if it did ban peanuts, it could not control what passengers brought onboard.

Ms Daley feels their genuine concerns were dismissed by the airline.

"We have just been brushed off and we just want to make people aware that this can happen on a plane," she said.

"All they have to do is just stop serving peanuts … and there's so many snacks."

The family has lodged a formal complaint with the airline.

Mr Daley said airline management needed to take notice of his son's experience.

"Obviously we can't body search everyone for peanuts and stop everyone bringing peanuts onto the plane," he said.

"But if you're knowingly serving hundreds and hundreds of packets of peanuts at one time in a plane where there is almost certainly going to be someone who has an allergy, that's just careless and irresponsible and potentially fatal."

Singapore Airlines 'reviewing' peanut incident

In a statement, Singapore Airlines apologised to the Daley family "for the distress they experienced during their flight".

"As soon as our crew were made aware of the situation they immediately removed all packets of peanuts from the area around Mr Daley and his family," a spokesman said.

"To ensure there was no further incident, our crew suspended the service of peanuts in the economy class cabin for the remainder of the flight.

"We are in contact with Mr Daley and will be reviewing this incident."

Ten years ago, Qantas banned peanuts from all flights and its lounges and limited the use of peanuts in inflight meals after lobbying by former Australian Medical Association president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal.

He said many other airlines around the world have a similar policy, including Air New Zealand.

"Airlines have a responsibility to make their cabins safe for all their passengers," Dr Haikerwal said.

"Some European airlines actually make a virtue of being nut free."

He acknowledged it was difficult to stop people bringing peanuts onboard, but said reasonable measures must be taken to stop them from causing allergic reactions.