United’s in-flight food, snacks rated tops for nutritional content

Now that airlines are generally making you pay for the in-flight snacks, sandwiches and meals that they offer, are you paying more attention to the nutritional value of those offerings? A web site called dietdetective.com, run by syndicated health and nutritional columnist Charles Stuart Platkin, has come out with its 2007 Airline Food Survey, evaluating the on-board options from nine airlines and assigning them a Health Score from five stars to one star. The site rated United’s in-flight offerings as the healthiest, at 4.5 stars, while Northwest’s and Southwest’s in-flight food options scored lowest, at two stars each. The site said United’s food has “the most healthful offerings overall; however, salads and sandwiches could be better.” Earning four stars was Continental, which provides “a low-calorie, high-impact meal, but not much variety.” Midwest and Delta each scored three stars (the site notes that Midwest’s signature chocolate chip cookies weigh in at 120 calories each), while JetBlue, US Airways and American rated 2.5 (American’s individually packaged snacks “are oversized and have mega-calories,” the site said). Northwest’s two-star offerings are mostly “high in calories,” the site noted, while Southwest’s fare has “not much variety or nutritional value.” To see a full report, go to www.DietDetective.com/airlinesurvey2007.