You call this food?

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I was listening to Science Friday today (ok, this was written on 9 March) where my friend, Ira Flatow, was interviewing Barb Stuckey.  She wrote a book, Taste What You’re Missing, where, among other things, she writes why food tastes so pitifully bad on an airplane.

Scientists have found that low level noise- that provided by the airplane engine- interferes with our sense of hearing, which, in turn, diminishes our ability to taste food.  In addition, the humidity in the cabin is lower than normal (to reduce the potential for corrosion of the fuselage), which further numbs about 1/3 of our taste buds.  Food, when eaten with those noise and humidity levels, needs to be saltier or sweeter than normal (so, regular food tastes blander on the airplane).  In other words , the flavors must be more intense, because of our diminished taste capabilities.  As a result, food preparers are finally testing their foods with folks sitting in airline fuselages, with the ambient sounds of flight.

Obviously, this is a big issue for airline food purveyors.  (Believe it or not, this amounts to some $ 13 billion in revenue for them annually.)  It’s not only a cooking issue- but a logistics, one to boot- getting the food to the airline, with the right mix of menu, at the right time, with the right trays and carts to fit the plane.

Once the food is prepared (no, not like in a restaurant- more like it’s prepared for those TV dinners- in an industrial production line), it’s blast chilled (or frozen) and kept cold until ready to be sent to the plane.  And, therein is the other problem for food purveyors.  On the planes, the food is (re-)heated with dry, hot air in convection ovens- except on the newer planes that now (finally) use steam ovens, which keep the food moist, at least.

These conditions are also why some airlines are now serving snacks and sandwiches- so the heating process does not destroy the food, instead of cooking it. (Of course, cost has nothing to do with this decision. 🙂 )  And, why other airlines are hiring top-named chefs to “spice up” their offerings for business and first class customers.  But, even in those instances, the airlines have to change the preparation techniques.  The analogy is changing the process that Dali would employ to paint a masterpiece to that method that you and I did when we were younger (i.e, paint by numbers),i.e., render it foolproof.  This development process is fairly lengthy- on the order of six months of testing and tweaking to complete for one dish.  And, then the bean counters get involved to balance the choices between taste and cost!

So, the airlines provide wines that you and I would never buy on the ground- but we can enjoy them more during the flight. (They are much more full-bodied.)   It’s also why I enjoy tomato juice while flying- but would never (ok, almost never) touch the stuff when I am on the ground.

By the way, you may want to know why so many airlines offer ice cream and/or ice-cream sundaes to us.  It’s because ice cream is one of the few foods that passes the humidity, noise, and altitude tests with flying colors.

Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A.

 

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20 thoughts on “You call this food?”

  1. You just spoke to one of the reasons why I like to take the train! Yes, it is more time consuming, but the food and experience is much better. I actually knew some of the facts you presented about taste and food science. My father worked for Nestle R&D for 30 years, and at his death had his name on 6 patents. (Some of which were directly related to the preservation of aroma and taste) It’s funny how things you wouldn’t even think disrupt food taste actually do. Neat article, Roy!

    1. I haven’t seen good food on a train ride since the Crescent stopped being the Southern Crescent. Nowadays, it’s either prepackaged TV dinners or worse!
      Nestle certainly does have a tremendous ongoing effort to entice us to eat its foods, Lisa…

      Roy

  2. Interesting article, Roy. I must say that I have a whole host of reasons as to why I don’t care for flying, the least of which (until now) being the food lol!

  3. I admit I’m not a world traveler but I have never been offered a full meal on a plane and don’t pay the $5 for a candy bar and or other snack items. I do take my free peanuts and have learned if you ask some will even throw a second pack your way. Now I’m glad I’ve never paid for their overpriced meals.
    Shawn recently posted..Plan a Date With Your Sweetie

    1. Yes, I found it intriguing as well, Tor.
      I had thought that my food must not have been packed well, when I traveled. (I often brought food when I had to travel on Pesach, since the pickings were slim, as best. But, that’s a tale for another blog.) Now, I know to bring some extra sauces and stuff to doctor the food up when I need (want?) to eat on the plane.

      Thanks for the comment- and the hijackers could just as easily pass as catering/airline service crew. Oh, wait- they HAVE done that!

      Roy

  4. I always knew that airline food was big business. In the Asia Pacific rim, the airlines keep many wineries and food companies afloat with their consumption.
    But flying is becoming a nightmare with food quality.
    And on a twelve or fourteen hour flight, for some reason business class (no more first class) always tastes better.
    Cold foods are great too on flights and usually cost less.
    And did you know that many airlines no longer serve snacks because of the allergies?
    Roberta Budvietas recently posted..Rigged Demonstrations

    1. Roberta:
      I believe they serve “snacks” but they are biscuits and pretzels, which are both cheaper and incur less complaints than those foods with nuts. Although, there seems to be plenty of nuts sitting in those seats!

      Roy

  5. Roy–
    I experienced the worst food ever on my flight from Newark to New Delhi and the flight back. I am not sure it was edible. Luckily on the flight there, I bought a bag of chex mix, which was dinner for the night. On the way back I basically fasted. My lesson learned was to always have snacks, even on 14 hour flights. I am going to try to order a child’s meal next time!
    Kristen recently posted..The Happiest Countries: Why Aren’t People in the United States Happier?

  6. Hi Roy,

    Nothing like airplane food to stimulate a good debate. I don’t eat meat, but I do eat seafood (which is never served on flights). Unfortunately, no one remotely connected to plane travel seems to understand the difference between vegetarian and vegan, because I am served margarine which I detest instead of butter, soy milk instead of cows milk and other strangely concocted items.

    As I have been on a lot of international flights and because we down under are so isolated from the rest of the world, I have endured many dreadful meals, but I never knew until how they could possibly get the food to taste so bad. Now I do. Thanks Roy.

    Madonna
    Madonna recently posted..What Could You Learn From This Up and Coming Poker Star?

    1. Madonna:
      I think they do understand the difference between vegan and vegetarian, but have elected to only serve vegan. (I have been told so by various airlines- which is why I sometimes order vegan on long flights to vary from the kosher meals.)
      One can only hope that this new found information will, indeed, lead to more tasty offerings. But, it may only be limited to business and first class flyers.

      Roy

  7. I had no idea that the noise would affect the taste. I guess it makes sense when you think about the distraction to the mind in concentrating on the sound.

    I wonder if wearing noise cancelling headphones would make the food taste better?
    Spitfire07 recently posted..Travel By Flight

    1. It’s the noise and the reduced air pressure. Wearing the noise cancellation head phones may help the taste, but I doubt the airlines would consider that a viable solution. But, stranger things have happened….

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