Flight attendant Kat Kamalani has taken to TikTok to warn of the things you should never eat on a plane if you can avoid it. She claims the water tanks are never cleaned and are disgusting, so you shouldn’t drink the tea or coffee. Other experts say you should avoid the pasta and bread rolls, fruity snack bars and alcohol, if you want to arrive feeling fresh at your destination.
You may think flights are a time to kick back and relax. But guess what: they are also a time to get neurotic. If this sounds like you, and you spend those erstwhile hours thinking of problems, then boy do we have a video for you.
Enter: flight attendant and TikTok star Kat Kamalani. In a video emblazoned with the text “do not eat these things on a plane,” Kamalani claims that the water tanks on planes are disgusting and that, for this reason, you rarely see flight attendants drinking tea or coffee. She also says that, though small parts are, the whole machine is never cleaned. Oh, and they are next to the bathrooms.
It’s so bad that she recommends you get bottled water “if you need to make your baby a bottle” of something (while requesting hot water in a cup). Other TikTok users, who claim to be flight attendants, pointed out that not all airlines are like this, and many social media users made comments to the effect of “I’m always drinking the tea and coffee, and I’m not dead yet.”
Regardless of how aeroplane sanitary practices intrigue (or bore) you, what will definitely impact your energy levels and general health is the food you choose to eat (or not eat) when at 40,000ft.
To that end, celebrity chef Toby Puttock shared some top notch advice with DMARGE about bad airline food. Puttock told DMARGE some people take this so seriously they don’t eat anything on board.
“I’ve met a lot of people that won’t eat airline food full stop and instead will take their own little packed lunches or dinners.”
Toby Puttock
Puttock explained to DMARGE that, because you are more sedentary than usual during flights, your digestive system isn’t processing food as quickly as it is on the ground.
This means if you stuff yourself with pasta, bread rolls, noodles or rice, you’re inviting your body to be bloated. Add jetlag to the mix and this is not a comfortable way to end your flight.
Dr. Charles Platkin, executive director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center, reviewed a number of airline meals, and came to a similar conclusion. He warned The Sun that high carbohydrate foods won’t fill you up, and will also leave you feeling lethargic when arriving at your destination.
Puttock also says you should be wary of salted pretzels, nuts and alcohol, as these products can dehydrate you (it’s easier to get dehydrated at altitude). He also told us fruity snack bars are basically just a sugar rush (not healthy on the ground or in the air, really, unless you’re running a marathon or something).
CNBC also reports that safety experts have said you should avoid dairy products, ice, deli meats, raw fruits and vegetables, rice and seafood on flights.
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