"What's the deal with airplane food?" has been the punchline of jokes for years, but recent events indicate that there may be more issues with food in the skies than just the taste. A series of reports throughout 2024 have highlighted a growing problem within the aviation industry: food safety aboard airplanes.
There have been alleged incidents that include rodents, insects and a slew of food poisoning. While federal agencies work to monitor airplane food, experts say that not everything is as it seems.
What incidents have occurred with airplane food?
In the past year, Delta passengers on a flight from Detroit to Amsterdam were "served spoiled meals from a Do & Co kitchen," and the "allegedly moldy chicken sickened more than a dozen fliers," said The Washington Post. Months later, an Air India passenger posted a video on X that appeared to show a dead cockroach in her omelet; The airline confirmed to Fox Business that the incident occurred but had no further comment.
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That same month, a "mouse scampered out of a meal on a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Norway to Spain and scurried off," said the Post. Other incidents include alleged cases of E. coli on Delta and "reports of unsanitary practices by a caterer that provides meals for British Airways."
Why is this happening?
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, regulations "changed what types of cooking knives crews can work with in the air," so airlines "have long looked for ways to cut food production costs and reduce meal preparation times for flight attendants on board," said CNN. This is a far cry from the days of old, when meals were "prepared in four simultaneously operating galleys, where dishes can be cooked in five-minute ovens," stated a 1958 Pan Am commercial.
The bigger issue, though, is that the "confined nature of airplane travel makes foodborne illness outbreaks especially challenging to manage," Darin Detwiler, a food safety adviser at Northeastern University, said to the Post. The FDA requires inspections at least every three years for airline catering facilities, and the agency "has written up two of the industry's largest catering companies, LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet," the Post reported. This reportedly included problems with temperature control, pests and cross-contamination, all of which can contribute to illnesses.
And "unlike restaurant food, which is hastily delivered to tables, in-flight meals can sit for hours before being consumed," said the Post. If airline meals are kept improperly, then "people can become infected with pathogens when food is not cooked, cooled, reheated and/or stored at the correct temperature, Carlota Medus, an epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Public Health, said to the Post.
What should you do on your next flight?
There are certain precautions that can be taken when choosing airplane food. This includes "avoiding raw seafood and undercooked food on planes, as well as anything that needs to be kept cold," doctor Jen Dunphy said to Yahoo!. However, Dunphy also reiterated that food on airplanes, despite these recent events, is "generally safe and is regulated" by the FDA. But inspections do not occur that regularly.
Items like pasta "may be a better choice than dishes that contain meat," food safety adviser Darin Detwiler said to Food & Wine. But the only surefire way to avoid sickness from airplane food is not to eat it. For people "who are concerned about food safety while traveling, they could consider bringing shelf-stable snacks for the plane like granola bars, trail mix and nuts," food safety expert Ellen Shumaker said to Food & Wine.
