Inside information about airplane food

Yes, this is your captain speaking. With some sound advise. Flying, you love it or you don't (I fall into the latter category), I get this immense hunger every time I'm on the plane. On long flights, but also on a flight within Europe. Maybe it has something to do with the holiday feeling or something, or out of boredom (because you can't really do much more than sit and watch a movie), anyway: I. Must. Eat. So on a long flight, I am already anticipating what kind of food will come from the moment we take off. Whether there are snacks. I still remember flying to Asia and discovering that the snacks on KLM were unlimited. There was just a big bowl at the back with all kinds of salty snacks, cookies, chocolate... I couldn't believe my luck. As soon as I'm at about ten kilometers high, I apparently develop a gigantic obsession with food. 

But I have become less naive about it, and that has everything to do with a love for a certain pilot. A very nice pilot, but my love for airplane food has diminished... Because what turns out: there are a lot of things you really want to avoid on the plane. Just read along and there's a good chance you'll never order coffee in the air again. I certainly never wanted to order it again after I learned the following things.

1. Coffee and tea
Yes, to get straight to the point: you really don't want to order these two things. Here's the thing: the coffee and tea are not made with mineral water from a bottle, but with tap water from the plane. And that water is not very hygienic. In fact, a study from 2004 found the E. Coli bacteria in two of the 158 planes. Furthermore, 13 percent of those planes contained coliform bacteria. This means that 1 in 8 planes did not meet hygiene standards. After this study, the rules were tightened, but in 2015 a new test showed that there wasn't much improvement. Nice, right? Oh yes, and that also means avoiding the Cup-a-Soup or the noodles. Because yes, those are also prepared with that same water. You don't want that.

2. Never eat anything from your fold-out table
At number one on the list of the dirtiest places on the plane is the fold-out table. Not even the toilet, can you imagine... So when that delicious ready-made meal is served, you'd better make sure you don't drop anything. The tray it is served on is also not very clean, which you can often guess by how sticky it is... Yuck. By the way, you also don't want to eat too much. Airplane food is made super salty because your taste buds work very differently at high altitudes. As a result, all the food is made especially salty to give it at least some flavor.

3. Vegetables like broccoli, beans, and Brussels sprouts
Okay, this doesn't necessarily have to do with hygiene, but with a pleasant journey. For you and your fellow passengers. Due to the pressure in the plane, your intestines work a bit differently, which may cause you to feel a bit bloated and may lead you to want to reduce that bloated feeling. I'll just say it: these vegetables will make you fart a lot. Not fun for anyone. Don't do it. I also don't think you'll be very relaxed on the plane. Unless you have to keep visiting the restroom. Which is also super unhygienic... Vicious circle.