These are the best and worst foods and drinks to order on a plane

Does your food taste plane while you’re up in the air? There are reasons for that, according to researchers.

“If it weren’t for the boredom many feel while flying, the best recommendation would always be to eat on the ground,” Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist at England’s Oxford University who studies how certain environments and sound impact taste, told The Post. 

Spence said there are numerous reasons why your food may taste subpar while you fly. 

“They include: dry cabin air (a bit like [being] in the desert), lowered cabin air pressure (like being at 6,000 feet) and crucially the loud engine noise (c. 80 to 85 decibels depending where you are sitting on plane and which kind of plane it is),” Spence explained. 

Dry air and low cabin pressure 

Dryness and low cabin pressure reduce the sensitivity of your taste buds to salty and sweet foods by 30%, according to a 2011 study from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics.

Citrusy flavors are also less effective, whereas bitter, sour and earthy flavors remain somewhat unchanged. 

“Dry air makes it more difficult to distinguish flavors. Our sense of smell reduces, which affects the way we taste our food,” Lisa R. Young, an adjunct professor of nutrition and food studies at New York University, told Health. 

Noise and setting 

Spence’s 2017 study published in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science noted how loud background noise can negatively impact someone’s perception of taste, smell and even of the alcohol content in drinks. 

The study talked about how previous research found that when participants were exposed to 85 dB of airplane noise, their sweetness perception decreased and their perception of umami, meaning their perception of savory tastes, increased. 

“This is why wearing noise-canceling headphones can actually make the food and drink taste better in the air,” Spence told The Post. 

Spence said that in addition to loud noise, the anxiety people experience while flying, the antisocial nature of eating on a plane from facing a seat back instead of a person and the plastic cutlery make airplane dining a lackluster experience regardless of how good the food is. 

Best food and drinks to order on an airplane

Even with those considerations, there are lots of dining options that will still taste excellent.

“Anything with umami taste, so Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, tomato, etc., and, of course, to drink a bloody mary given the double dose of umami both from tomatoes and from the Worcestershire sauce,” Spence explained. 

He also suggested people order wines made at higher altitudes versus wines made at sea level. 

“Go for a New World wine from somewhere like Chile, which may have been made at the same altitude (e.g., air pressure) as in plane (6,000 feet),” Spence said. 

“I would also pick wines with a sweet fruity nose, as this may withstand the conditions in the air better than a tannic oaked wine,” he added.

Worst things to order on an airplane

This advice may leave you on a sour note. 

Spence said to avoid “anything sweet, salty or carbonated.”

“Carbonated [because] it may make you bloated, and salty and sweet food because they need to add 20% to 30% more in order to give the same experience, so they are guaranteed to be very unhealthy,” he explained. 

One carbonated beverage that may taste a bit better on a flight is ginger ale, a favorite among social media users. 

You won’t taste the usual sweetness of ginger ale while on a plane, but it will have a refreshing, dry and crisp flavor.