Airline snacks have moved beyond peanuts and pretzels (although there’s no shortage of either on flights), but are they better or worse for us than the salty standards?
Charles Stuart Platkin analyzed nine U.S. airlines’ snacks, and at first glance the results weren’t as depressing as I expected. United Airlines got 4.5 stars out of an available 5 on Platkin’s health scale. The snacks most airlines serve are far better than the free meals of old, he reports, which are “worse than a McDonald’s Big Mac, fries and shake” combined.
Platkins studied an airline’s variety of food, nutritional value, calorie count and the airlines’ willingness to provide nutritional information. What’s crazy is that United Airlines’ top-scoring snack — which is “vegetarian-friendly, trans-fat-free,” and contains granola, organic peach applesauce, cheddar cheese and other items — has 810 calories.
810 calories! In a “healthy” snack. If that’s the good news, I don’t think I can handle the bad news. If you can, read the rest of the article here.
Thanks to Steven Yuen-Pak Liu on Flickr for the photos of his not-so-nutritious American Airline’s snack pack.