Science Reveals Why Airplane Food Tastes So Bad

Hugh Pickens writes "At low elevations, the 10,000 or so taste buds in the human mouth work pretty much as nature intended. But step aboard a modern airliner, and the sense of taste loses its bearings. Even before a plane takes off, the atmosphere inside the cabin dries out the nose. As the plane ascends, the change in air pressure numbs about a third of the taste buds, and at 35,000 feet with cabin humidity levels kept low by design to reduce the risk of fuselage corrosion, xerostomia or cotton mouth sets in. This explain why airlines tend to salt and spice food heavily. Without all that extra kick, food tastes bland. 'Ice cream is about the only thing I can think of that tastes good on a plane,' says Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. 'Airlines have a problem with food on board. The packaging, freezing, drying and storage are hard on flavor at any altitude, let alone 30,000 feet.' Challenges abound. Food safety standards require all meals to be cooked first on the ground. After that, they are blast-chilled and refrigerated until they can be stacked on carts and loaded on planes. For safety, open-flame grills and ovens aren't allowed on commercial aircraft, so attendants must contend with convection ovens that blow hot, dry air over the food. 'Getting any food to taste good on a plane is an elusive goal,' says Steve Gundrum, who runs a company that develops new products for the food industry."

Comments

Yeah... except at 35,000ft it's pressurized to 8k

[gavron]

The modern airliner cabin is pressurized to a pressure altitude of 8,000ft.
That means that as you go from airport altitude to your cruising altitude the cabin only increases
in pressure to feel like 8,000ft.

That's below the 10,000ft where the OP claims cotton-mouth, and below the 14,000 where you
can't breath, and well below the 35,000 OP cites as cruising altitude.

See: http://tinyurl.com/brmpv3j

The original article is just pure hogwash.

E

Re:Psychological effects

[radaos]

Previous research has linked high noise levels, such as found on aircraft, with the perception of blandness in food. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11525897

Re:The good old days...

[theNAM666]

Mod parent down.

Serving a meal on a plane costs in the area of $10 (just because YOU read it, don't make it so). Most of the cost is do to deregulation (you need a franchise license from the particular airport, to operate on premise, and airports typically only issue one-- ah, free enterprise!).

Please try again-- on another forum.

Re:Yeah... except at 35,000ft it's pressurized to

[tlhIngan]

That would be nice if you could direct the outgoing air through an exchanger. It leaks out through bad door seals and other unintended openings. And it takes the moisture with it.

The vast majority of air "leaks" out through cabin pressurization valves near the back of the plane - it's designed that way since air has to be let out in order to let fresh air in (as well as to not keep the cabin at the same altitude as the departing airport - to climb up to 8000' requires releasing air).

My understanding is that exactly the opposite happens. Because of adiabatic heating, the air being compressed into an aircraft cabin actually needs to be cooled (it's bled off of compressors for the jet engine). At least, that's what I've been told by a few people.

Correct. The pressurized air for the cabin comes from the jet engine's bleed air (located after the compressor section). It's quite warm because of the compression (from -30-50C to +50-60C), so it needs to be cooled down via air conditioners to levels humans would prefer.

It's also one reason (among many) to keep the cabin at 8000' and why air quality has declined - using the bleed air saps power from the engine.

Re:The good old days...

[517714]

75% dehydration in our population is an urban myth.