Airlines are all over the map in terms of what
food they will offer, if any, on flights. Some lines stick to small packages of peanuts or pretzels, while others offer snack packs (that usually have to be purchased) or, in a few cases, full meals. The
Diet Detective did a little investigating and found out, from a nutritional standpoint, which airlines are giving out food worth eating and on which flights you're better off bringing a snack from home.
- United - offers variety and healthy choices in four different meal types, Smartpack, 895 cal; Minimeal, 560 cal; Quickpick, 655 cal; Ritebite, 625 cal. The Smartpack and Ritebite are your most balanced options.
- Continental Airlines - doesn't have all the options that United does, but the meals are definitely health-oriented with pretzels and sandwiches made with low-fat mayo. Turkey, 285 cal; Ham, 316 cal.
- JetBlue - has a number of individually packaged, portion-controlled snacks, including Nabisco 100 calorie packs, Doritos Munchies Mix, Mrs. GoodCookie Jungle Crackers, All Nuts Jumbo Cashew Halves.
- American Airlines - skip the breakfast muffin, but the meat, nuts, raisins and cheese in the 710-calorie snack pack are filling.
- US Airways - offers a fairly low calorie snack pack (470 cal), but lacks any real nutritional punch. Try the fruit/nut mix and skip the rest
- Delta Air Lines - again, the fruit and nuts are worth eating in Delta's snack pack, but the rest of the 766 cal meal can easily be skipped.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-29-2006 @ 2:17PM
Kate said...
Bring a snack from home? With all the security measures in place, I was under the impression you can't bring much of anything edible, anymore. Certainly not liquids of course, but can you pack food?
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11-29-2006 @ 3:01PM
Spitzmaus said...
For many years, my approach to airline food has been a simple one: I don't eat it, ever; I never, ever eat it (the free peanuts and pretzels are an exception). Instead, I pack my own, a tasty assortment that always draws envious glances from fellow passengers. Airline food may have been palatable once upon a time, but those days are long since past. And when one considers the appalling cost of the "meals" coupled with the aforementioned nutrition data, I'd say it's a no-brainer. Plane travel is painful enough without subjecting oneself to the "food".
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11-29-2006 @ 3:34PM
faith said...
you forgot southwest...
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11-29-2006 @ 4:51PM
Alex said...
I travelled on Continental (for about 15 hours in more or less one stretch) last year and the food was all incredibly stodgy, not to mention nasty. Why they might think you're interested in eating hot roll after hot roll filled with melted cheese and dodgy looking meats I don't know ...
On British Airways I once had a really good Greek salad (ideal for a plane as it doesn't weigh you down) and the Asian airlines usually offer good food if you eat the local stuff - the bibimbap on Korean was really tasty!
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11-29-2006 @ 7:49PM
Kate said...
After reading a lovely article by Calvin Trillin years ago, in which he described a picnic hamper he packed for himself, with a crab cake sandwich, among other things, I began packing my own gourmet fare. Envious glances always accompanied the meal, as well. I just question whether it's still feasible to do with so much brou-hah-hah about liquids. Would a liquidy gooshy crab cake sandwich with aioli be allowed past security? Who knows.
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11-29-2006 @ 9:32PM
AmyLiz said...
I took a homemade sandwich and a snack mix I made on my Thanksgiving flights this past weekend and went through security just fine. I believe it's the liquids and gels (including things from yogurt to lip gloss)that raise the warning flags.
I did call the TSA customer service line beforehand to make sure, though.
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11-29-2006 @ 9:36PM
Spitzmaus said...
Kate, Calvin Trillin was also *my* inspiration to start carrying my own tasty airline meals, having read about it in his delightful book "Alice, Let's Eat". The last time I flew (October, 2005), I packed a homemade meatloaf sandwich, cole slaw, fruit, nuts, and a couple chocolate chip cookies; not sure what I'd take today, with all the prohibitions, but I can't imagine an innocent sandwich would raise eyebrows.
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