Study ranks healthy airline food options
AIRPLANE food tends to be more of a punchline than a pleasure. And yet, at 35,000 feet, even a forlornlooking tray can serve as both entertainment and sustenance for a captive audience. With that in mind, Charles Platkin, PhD, director of the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College, sought to uncover just how healthy or unhealthy airplane food is, and the results are published in the Annual Airline Food Investigation, a survey he’s conducted since 2000 (it became annual in 2009).
For the survey, Platkin reached out to representatives with 12 major airlines to inquire about their meal and snack options. He ranks them based, in part, on calories, nutrition, menu innovation and transparency (some airlines are more candid than others about what’s in their food).
“They call me an airline food bully,” says Platkin, who is also founder of the site DietDetective.com. “I’m aggressive about it. People have choices about what airline they fly, but they don’t have choices about what they eat on that flight,” he says.
Each airline is given a “health score” on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest. This year, Delta and Virgin America tied for the lead, with each scoring 4 points, and Air Canada tied for second with JetBlue. Hawaiian Airlines came in last.
It’s telling that no airline scored the highest rating of 5. “The airlines still have a tremendous amount of room for improvement,” says Platkin. “No airline blows me away, like, ‘Oh my gosh, they got it’.”
To that end, he was more inclined during our interview to use phrases such as “not awful” when describing a meal or snack, rather than showering it with praise. While a handful of those surveyed serve complimentary meals on select flights (Delta, American and Hawaiian), Platkin is more inclined to encourage health-conscious passengers to eat a full meal before they fly and to carry their own snacks (nuts, fruit, vegetables, hummus) onboard.
Here’s how seven of the 12 airlines scored, along with some of the “Best bets” to munch on from each.
Delta
Cooperation in providing nutritional information: Excellent Health score: 4 stars
Average calories overall (meals, snack boxes and individual snacks): 480
Delta was notable for its willingness to share nutritional information, its variety of offerings and the fact that the average calories in the snack boxes, meals and individual snacks decreased from 2016’s 527 to 480, and meal calories decreasing from 628 calories to 559.
Best bets: For a snack, opt for the almonds (124 calories); the vegan, GMO-free Delta Flight Fuel Tapas Snack Box, which has Super Seed Crackers, Snapea Crisps, almonds, hummus, quinoa with pepper dip and other items (665 calories); the fruit-and-yogurt continental breakfast; the sesame noodle salad (345 calories); or the Greek mezze plate (330 calories).
Virgin America
Cooperation in providing nutritional information: Excellent Health score: 4 stars
Average calories overall: 340 Platkin says that healthier options and openness about calories and nutrients have all been a part of Virgin’s approach since the airline launched (although it has since been purchased by Alaska Airlines).
Best bets: Go with the nuts as a snack (Creative Snack Brain Smart Nut Mix, 510 calories, and Hail Merry Seasoned Nut Blend, 220 calories); opt for one of the meals, such as the 420-calorie, vegetarian protein-packed quinoa wrap; the 440-calorie protein plate with a cage-free hard-boiled egg, cheese, grilled chicken breast, fresh vegetables, wheat pita rounds and edamame hummus.
Air Canada
Cooperation in providing nutritional information: Very helpful Health score: 3.75
Average calories overall: 320 Best bets: Skotidakis fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt (90 calories); Avocado Smash Box with fresh guacamole, aged cheddar cheese, hard-boiled egg, green apple slices, multigrain muesli bread (590 calories).
Alaska Airlines
Cooperation in providing nutritional information: Extremely helpful
Health score 3.5
Average calories overall: 479.6 Best bet: Platkin suggests sharing the Mediterranean Tapas Picnic Pack (vegan, kosher and gluten-free) or having it as a meal, because it’s 510 calories. It comes with multigrain snack chips, olives, hummus, almonds and more.
United
Cooperation in providing nutritional information: Somewhat helpful
Health score: 2.75
Average calories overall: 416 Best bet: For a snack, go for the hummus (160 calories) or the Tapas Snack Box, which comes with a variety of items including flatbread, crackers, bruschetta, hummus, almonds, mints and more (avoid the cheese spread, says Platkin). The Mezze Sampler (501 calories), is another good option.
American Airlines
Cooperation in providing nutritional information: Below average
Health score: 2.5
Average calories overall: 446 Best bets: Go for the hummus box as a snack (220 calories) or the Chicken Arugula Wrap for lunch and go easy on the dressing (401 calories).
Southwest Airlines
Cooperation in providing nutritional information: Very helpful
Health Score: 2
Average calories: 125
Best Bet: Southwest offers a fairly limited selection, but the ones it does offer are complimentary. Peanuts (70 calories) are the best bet, says Platkin, though the pretzels have lower calories.