AIRLINE SPECIAL MEALS

If you ever want to liven up a conversation, start talking about airline food. Everyone has a bad-food story to tell. As tempting as it would be to write about this subject, we’re going to deal with something a bit less controversial, but more important—airline “special meals.”


Vegetarian Meal on Qantas - Economy Class

First of all, special meals must be ordered at least 24 hours in advance, no last minute decisions permitted. And, you can’t just order anything you want as if you were in a restaurant. (I’ve had people ask for fish & chips or a cheese burger!) Special meals are standardized and are based on dietary, health, or religious restrictions. On the other hand, no one is going to cross-examine you to make sure you are Muslim if you order a Muslim meal or check out how fat you are if you request a low-fat meal. You have every right to order these meals; just don’t expect them to be “made to order.”

A typical large airline offers about 25 special meal types, ranging from Asian vegetarian to—believe it or not—bland meal. (That implies they offer something other than bland!) There are meals catering to religious restrictions, such as Kosher or Hindu. And there are dietary choices, such as low-fat, low-purine (ie. low caffeine), and gluten-free. There can be up to seven varieties of vegetarian meals. Note, however, that not all airlines and not all flights will offer anything close to 25 special meals. Small regional airlines such as WestJet offer nothing except peanuts (although often you can buy food on board). And many of the small airlines that do offer food will have few or no special meals. Even on the larger airlines, certain kinds of meals, such as Hindu or Asian vegetarian, are only offered on international flights, and sometimes only on specific routes. Your travel agent will verify if your choice has been confirmed or rejected, so that you will have a chance to choose an alternative meal if necessary.

Okay, so let’s say you’re not a vegan or Muslim or diabetic, but you just want to avoid the typically abysmal food served on planes. What should you order? If it’s offered, try ordering seafood or fruit plate. Failing that, low-fat is a good bet—it will at least eliminate the greasier offerings. Or, you might want to experiment with some of those more exotic meals such as Asian Vegetarian or Oriental meals if you are taking an international flight.

So does this mean we’ve found a loophole in the airline food racket? Probably not. Even though most major airlines seem to offer a large number of special meals, they cheat a bit. Typically, the vegetarian meal is the same as vegan, high fiber, non-lactose, low-fat, low calorie, and diabetic meals, among others. Usually, there really aren’t that many choices. Also, just because the meal is “special,” don’t assume it will be tastier than standard fare. Sometimes it is, but it could be worse—something I have learned in my food-ordering experiments. Keep in mind that airline food is prepared about 8 hours in advance. How good could it be?

With these warnings, if you still feel adventurous, here are some tips*: · Low-cholesterol is not the same as low-fat. The low-cholesterol meal may include some fat. Sometimes the vegetarian meal has less fat than the low-fat meal. On the other hand, some airlines will treat low-fat and low-cholesterol as the same.· Your definition of “low-fat” may not be the same as the airlines’. Eg. You might get chicken and margarine instead of beef and butter—-not necessarily what you had in mind.· The Hindu meal is just a non-beef meal; if you want Indian vegetarian meals, make sure you request Hindu vegetarian.· If you want a vegetarian meal be sure to specify whether it is “strict vegetarian” (ie. vegan) or lacto-ovo vegetarian (which includes dairy products and eggs. Also, be prepared for unsatisfactory offerings, especially from some foreign carriers, where vegetarian might mean a meat dish with the meat removed or a dish made up of nothing but vegetables.· If you are gluten-intolerant, or have an allergy to peanuts, you might not want to take chances. I have had a client hospitalized on more than one occasion, for example, when she ate a supposedly gluten-free meal. Better to pack your own food!· Even if the food is what it is labeled to be, there is also the danger that it just doesn’t show up (or someone else accidentally claims it). Again, if the meal is important for health or religious reasons, consider packing your own. Ordering a special meal could prevent you from being upgraded. Airlines often by-pass passengers with special meals ordered when looking for someone to upgrade on an over-sold flight. They do not want business class passengers seeing economy meals (ie. the special meal that had been pre-ordered) served up front. It’s bad P.R.

For your reference and amusement, below is a list—copied directly from our reservations computer—of the most common special meals available on the major airlines, complete with their silly airline codes:

** MEAL CODES **
AVML - ASIAN VEGETARIAN
BBML - BABY MEAL
BLML - BLAND MEAL (NOT RECOGNIZED BY UA)
CHML - CHILD MEAL
DBML - DIABETIC MEAL
FPML - FRUIT PLATE
GFML - GLUTEN FREE (NOT RECOGINZED BY UA)
HFML - HIGH FIBRE
HNML - HINDU MEAL
IVML - INDIAN VEGETARIAN (UNITED AIRLINES ONLY)
KSML - KOSHER MEAL
LCML - LOW CALORIE MEAL
LFML - LOW FAT/LOW CHOLESTEROL
LPML - LOW PROTEIN
LSML - LOW SODIUM
MOML - MOSLEM MEAL
NLML - NON-LACTOSE (NOT RECOGNIZED BY UA)
ORML - ORIENTAL (ASIAN)
PRML - LOW PURINE (LOW CAFEINE)
RVML - RAW VEGETARIAN
SFML - SEAFOOD
SPML - SPECIAL MEAL (NEED FREEFORM)
VGML - VEGETARIAN
VLML - VEGETARIAN LACTO-OVO

Now that you know the story, the next time you book a flight consider jazzing things up a bit and try out a special meal. Or, alternatively, pack something interesting of your own, just to make your neighbouring passengers jealous.

*From FAQ: Air Travelers’ Handbook. For more tips on special meals, see
“Making your In-flight Meals Special,” “Low-Carb Friendly Meals,” and a web site exclusively devoted to the subject, “AirlineMeals.net.”