Alaska Airlines provides healthiest food choices – 2018-19 Airline Food Study

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Alaska Airlines provides the ‘healthiest’ food choices in the sky followed by Delta, Air Canada and JetBlue as per the 2018-19 Airline Food Study. This study is released by The Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center and DietDetective.com. Food for eleven airlines was rated in this study.

The study assigned a ‘Health Score’ (5 stars = highest rate, 0 star = lowest) based on eleven criteria. These criteria included health and calorie levels of meals, snack boxes and individual snacks, level of transparency (display nutrient information & ingredients), improvement and maintenance of healthy offerings, menu innovation, food and water safety and cooperation in providing this information. The survey includes health ratings, average calories per airline, comments, best bets, food offerings, costs, nutrition information (e.g., calories and exercise equivalents).

Since the calories are not everything the study looks at the nutrients in these foods, as well as innovations moving towards healthy, tasty, inexpensive, sustainable foods. The average number of calories per menu choice in 2016 was 392 and in 2017 it was 405 calories. In 2018, the calories decreased by 32 per cent to 373.

Health Ratings for the airlines are Alaska – 4.25 stars, Delta – 3.7 stars, JetBlue – 3.55 stars, Air Canada – 3.45 stars, American – 3 stars, United Airlines – 2.75 stars, Hawaiian Airlines – 2.65 stars, Allegiant Air – 2.1 stars, Southwest Airlines – 1.6 stars, Spirit Airlines – 1.1 stars, Frontier Air – 0.85 stars.

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