Airlines Offer Meals For Way More Dietary Restrictions Than You Realize

Nobody would ever accuse airline meals of being gourmet fare, but a meal on an airplane doesn't have to be all doom and gloom either. In fact, fliers may be surprised to learn that there are different codes that airlines use to designate a wide spectrum of meals. Sure, there are vegetarian, kosher, and gluten-free meals, but airlines have greatly expanded their offerings in recent years.

According to WorldGo, there are over 30 accepted codes on worldwide flights. Most airlines generally have gluten-free options, as well as vegetarian options, kids' meals, and meals that cater to various dietary restrictions. Common codes for airline food can also designate certain meals as low-salt or lactose-free, special meals (which typically vary by airline), and meals consisting entirely of raw vegetables or fresh, seasonal fruit, to name a few.

While customers may not be able to use the codes themselves when ordering meals on a flight, they can contact an airline if they have certain dietary restrictions. This way, the airline itself can use the codes to ensure the flight has the specific meals on board to meet those needs.

When flyers picture airline food, they may imagine something straight out of an old movie — a nondescript lukewarm meal that may only bear a passing resemblance or taste to what it's supposed to be. That's not the case with modern flights, as airlines offer specific snacks on flights, and many airlines offer the absolute best wine. At least three major airlines, American, Delta, and United, have culinary teams to determine the menus served on their respective flights. Each team cycles different menus throughout the year while monitoring food trends and the popularity of certain items as they craft meals that will appeal to a wide range of flyers. 

While the caterers affiliated with different airlines are usually kept a secret, they prepare thousands of meals each day, with most meals typically made the same day they're served. The evolution of airline food seems almost as old as air travel itself. What began as simple offerings in the 1930s grew to include frozen meals by the 1940s. Eventually, this transformed into the carefully crafted (and coded) menus that airlines use today. Depending on the length of a flight, food may seem like an afterthought, but there's a lot more to planning and presenting meals on an airplane than meets the eye.