UA serves frozen/preserved food in coach on international routes now?
Nov 16, 2017, 4:18 am
#31
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Nov 16, 2017, 4:38 am
#32
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I love the possibility of getting Kerry Gold butter on flights home from Europe, even if not from Ireland, because it is so good.
Also, most airplane meals are frozen and reheated, even in premium cabins. It is part of the necessary precautions to keep the food safe for consumption. Really not a big deal.
Nov 16, 2017, 5:06 am
#33
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There are only a handful of airlines in who provide fresh meals in Y, unless the cost of distribution and shipping exceeds the cost of local fresh preparation. It all comes down to the mighty $ (or penny).
Nov 16, 2017, 5:53 am
#34
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How precious ..
My 1st reaction was "of course it's frozen/prepared meals with added preservatives" but then I remember watching this on the Discovery channel -
And this - a short (but very cheezy) video by SATS - the commercial kitchen/aviation arm that caters all meals to SIA
Yeah, so I guess the OP was perhaps thinking more along the lines of this type of meal prep. From my understanding, all meals served on SIA are prepared fresh & flash frozen/chilled & then loaded onto the airplane.
Not sure how it's done on UA but from my experience last Nov. (SINSFOSIN) - honestly it tastes like those frozen TV dinners you get at supermarkets.
Of course, the meals don't carry any nutrition labels so we'll never know ...
p/s I really don't understand how eggs/omelettes can be frozen & then re-heated before serving. Baffling .... what does frozen eggs taste like?
And this - a short (but very cheezy) video by SATS - the commercial kitchen/aviation arm that caters all meals to SIA
Yeah, so I guess the OP was perhaps thinking more along the lines of this type of meal prep. From my understanding, all meals served on SIA are prepared fresh & flash frozen/chilled & then loaded onto the airplane.
Not sure how it's done on UA but from my experience last Nov. (SINSFOSIN) - honestly it tastes like those frozen TV dinners you get at supermarkets.
Of course, the meals don't carry any nutrition labels so we'll never know ...
p/s I really don't understand how eggs/omelettes can be frozen & then re-heated before serving. Baffling .... what does frozen eggs taste like?
Nov 16, 2017, 6:04 am
#35
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Food for thought
I flew back from Edinburgh to Newark this past Sunday in coach due to GPU failure. When breakfast was served, I noticed on package cover that the food was prepared back in September 2017 by a company in Italy and it has a shelf time until September 2018. Apparently this is kind of frozen/preserved food (though I could not tell the preservatives used from the package cover). I always thought that even economy class on international routes got horrible food, but it is some basic food prepared with fresh (?) ingredients on the day of departure or maybe one or two days prior to the departure. I knew Lufthansa and KLM serve this kind of frozen/preserved food with long shelf time on their European routes in coach class, but this is something new to me for United. This also makes me wonder whether it is Lufthansa who provided catering service for United at Edinburgh, since I noticed the fruit juice boxes on this flight are the German brand ALBI and that the little bottle water we got in coach class is also made in Germany.
Anyone have noticed this before or thoughts?
Anyone have noticed this before or thoughts?
Nov 16, 2017, 7:07 am
#36
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Welcome to Europe. Good move across borders with ease.
I love the possibility of getting Kerry Gold butter on flights home from Europe, even if not from Ireland, because it is so good.
Also, most airplane meals are frozen and reheated, even in premium cabins. It is part of the necessary precautions to keep the food safe for consumption. Really not a big deal.
I love the possibility of getting Kerry Gold butter on flights home from Europe, even if not from Ireland, because it is so good.
Also, most airplane meals are frozen and reheated, even in premium cabins. It is part of the necessary precautions to keep the food safe for consumption. Really not a big deal.
Nov 16, 2017, 8:38 am
#37
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All airlines have frozen food for service... The thing to me that was more surprising was the manufacturing date, September and being consumed in November. That strikes me as very odd. But that also explains why the quality in Y seems worst then other airlines. (Frozen yes, but made the day before or so)
Yes what really strikes me is the manufacturing date of the food and the time it was served. I have always been under the wrong impression that airline food was prepared only within a few days prior to departure, not like this (I think my impression is still true for flights out of Asia or within Asia, e.g. UA's flights out of PEK/PVG/XIY/CTU/HKG.....). Also I have the wrong impression that frozen food with long shelf time like this (>1 year) contains preservatives, which, thanks to my dear fellow flyers here, is now corrected in my mind.Also thanks for the flyer for the information on the German-bottled water situation. That is very helpful.
Nov 16, 2017, 9:19 am
#39
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 397
Thanks for helping clarify my curiosity. Yes what really strikes me is the manufacturing date of the food and the time it was served. I have always been under the wrong impression that airline food was prepared only within a few days prior to departure, not like this (I think my impression is still true for flights out of Asia or within Asia, e.g. UA's flights out of PEK/PVG/XIY/CTU/HKG.....). Also I have the wrong impression that frozen food with long shelf time like this (>1 year) contains preservatives, which, thanks to my dear fellow flyers here, is now corrected in my mind.
Also thanks for the flyer for the information on the German-bottled water situation. That is very helpful.
Yes what really strikes me is the manufacturing date of the food and the time it was served. I have always been under the wrong impression that airline food was prepared only within a few days prior to departure, not like this (I think my impression is still true for flights out of Asia or within Asia, e.g. UA's flights out of PEK/PVG/XIY/CTU/HKG.....). Also I have the wrong impression that frozen food with long shelf time like this (>1 year) contains preservatives, which, thanks to my dear fellow flyers here, is now corrected in my mind.Also thanks for the flyer for the information on the German-bottled water situation. That is very helpful.
Nov 16, 2017, 9:20 am
#40
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Japan
Posts: 5,577
from a person that's not in the airline catering business I find this rather understandable. There are dozens of TV shows available on Youtube that give an
insight to catering. All of them show kitchens displaying the days' flights and meals are prepared in time for these specific flights. The conclusion is that
airline food is freshly prepared and not frozen. I do wish though, we had a Julia Child or Jacques Pepin on every flight. Wouldn't you?
Nov 16, 2017, 9:35 am
#41
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 1,727
I had the misfortune of flying ex LHR on a UA flight and lunch in Y was an identical pack as the OP posted above - except that the contents were an Indian chicken curry with boiled potatoes and something like bulgur or couscous, I took one stab at it and then pushed it away. Not only did it taste awful, but Indian chicken curry is not prepared with boiled potatoes or bulgur/couscous. If I was in a remote location where a 12-month old frozen pack was the only option for weeks, I might eat it - but I would rather starve than eat this. Of course my fault entirely, for flying UA. Hopefully for the last time across the Atlantic.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Nov 16, 2017 at 1:29 pm Reason: Using symbols, spaces or other methods to mask vulgarities is not allowed.
Nov 16, 2017, 9:38 am
#42
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).I was simply misled by my own wrong impression that onboard airline hot food was prepared within a few days prior to departure, not like one month or more prior to departure. Now that this wrong impression has been completely corrected and removed from my head and I will no longer be surprised to see this for future flights. Thanks for your comment and safe fly!
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Nov 16, 2017 at 1:30 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member
Nov 16, 2017, 9:47 am
#44
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Nov 16, 2017, 4:58 pm
#45
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I had the misfortune of flying ex LHR on a UA flight and lunch in Y was an identical pack as the OP posted above - except that the contents were an Indian chicken curry with boiled potatoes and something like bulgur or couscous, I took one stab at it and then pushed it away. Not only did it taste awful, but Indian chicken curry is not prepared with boiled potatoes or bulgur/couscous. If I was in a remote location where a 12-month old frozen pack was the only option for weeks, I might eat it - but I would rather starve than eat this. Of course my fault entirely, for flying UA. Hopefully for the last time across the Atlantic.