Unless you travel exclusively on private jets, there’s a good chance that the food you’ve been served on your flights has been pretty awful. The lows to which airline food drops is much worse than some dry chicken or under seasoned potatoes, however; everything from live mice to dead cockroaches have turned up in in-flight meals served by the world’s airlines.
Airlines including Delta, Scandinavian Airlines and Air India have all been linked to disgusting and sometimes unsafe airplane meals in a new report from the Washington Post. The investigation uncovered food poisoning cases linked to in-flight meals, dead cockroaches turning up in dishes and even a live mouse that once jumped out of a pre-prepared dish:
In September, an Air India passenger flying from Delhi to New York tweeted they had discovered a dead cockroach in her omelet. The airline confirmed the incident to Fox Business but did not reply to a request for comment about how it responded.
Also that month, a mouse scampered out of a meal on a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Norway to Spain and scurried off. The pilot rerouted to Copenhagen, because rodents can be destructive and chew on wires. “The safety of our colleagues and passengers is always our priority number one, also when it comes to in-flight meals and procedures around how to handle these” said Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji, an SAS spokeswoman, who confirmed the sighting.
In October, a Food and Drug Administration inspection cited food safety concerns at Delta’s catering facility at Detroit Metro Airport in Michigan. The airline decided to switch to another facility for its hot meal service and suspend all operations from the Detroit kitchen until further notice. The FDA would not comment on the investigation because it is an open case.
Instances of food poisoning were also linked to flights operated out of places like Michigan and Hawaii. As airlines do very little meal prep themselves, the outbreaks are often linked back to the companies that provide airlines with pre-prepared meals.
Companies such as Gate Gourmet and LSG Sky Chefs make a living preparing and packaging meals for airlines around the world. The companies operate out of enormous commercial kitchens based near airports and package hundreds of meals for service every day.
According to the Post, Gate Gourmet has been linked to contaminated carrots that gave 45 people food poisoning back in 2004 and investigations at facilities operated by gate the two companies turned up some pretty grim scenes over the years:
Transgressions included improper temperature control, pest infestations and cross-contamination concerns. Depending on the circumstances, the agency will require the company to take corrective actions and pay a fine.
In a 2018 warning letter to a Gate Gourmet facility in Kentucky, the agency called out the company for food residue on can openers, standing water by a gas range, accumulation of grease, food deposits and general filth on equipment. It also reported live cockroaches by the oven and dishwashing area and dead roaches “too numerous” to count.
Production sites are not the only places where issues can arise with airline food, however, as the meals are pre-packed and can pass through dozens of holding sites and multiple sets of hands before they are served up mid-flight.
Because of this, cross-contamination can occur at “several points along the chain,” adds the Post. Whether it’s employees who don’t thoroughly clean their hands before handling food or untidy facilities that encourage pests, there are all kinds of steps that can “add some complications” to serving safe food on a flight.
To try and rectify those complications, airlines are working with suppliers to tighten up their act and implement new safety protocols and monitoring systems. Gate Gourmet is one such company working to clean things up, with the company telling the Post that its kitchens are regularly audited and it has invested “heavily” in technology and its staff to ensure safety standards are met.
Is that enough to renew your faith in airline food the next time you fly? Or will you always prefer packing your own sandwiches, snacks and candies to keep your belly satisfied the next time you fly?
That’s all too little, too late for the Delta passengers caught up in a listeria outbreak on a flight earlier this year. And no matter how clean your kitchens, you can never quite prepare for the response to meal options that fussy eaters can throw up.
