A TikTok that captures a passenger opening a tin of tune mid-flight has gone viral on the social media app. Why? Because of how fishy tinned tuna can smell. Users have been calling the act a “crime against humanity”, and it got us thinking: which foods have odours so offensive that they should be socially banned from taking on a plane. Here are the foods to avoid if you don’t want to offend every other passenger on your flight.
Whether it be tuna, salmon or mackerel, it’s best to avoid cracking open a can of tinned fish on the plane unless you want the whole cabin to be shooting daggers at you. You may argue that canned fish is a healthy, high-protein snack, and you’d be right. But they are odorous and should not be opened in spaces where there’s no fresh flow of air (the plane air con doesn’t count).
Can’t believe we even need to bring this up, but we’ve seen it happen and seen a cabin full of passengers simultaneously regurgitate what they last ate as soon as the egg was cracked. The sulphur that is released when the shell is cracked and peeled off a hard boiled egg is what causes the foul smell. So don’t be the bad egg on the plane and leave the high-protein snack at home.
Ever had a ham, salami or mortadella sandwich packed in a container for lunch and then opened it? No, well it smells like you can smell the nitrates that are packed into those slices of processed meats. It smells like methane and we all know what is excreted from our bodies and is made up of methane. Hint: it starts with ‘f’ and ends with ‘arts’.
The smell of fast food isn’t necessarily offensive, but if you’re not the person consuming it is not what you want to smell. For two reasons: if you’re hungry the last thing you want to smell is someone else’s food and if the cabin crew are already beginning to prepare a meal the mixture of competing hot foods could be unpleasant to other passengers.
Especially if it’s been sealed in an airtight container for a couple hours. The release of the lid will instantly let out a pungent smell that’s been pent up. If any other passengers are suffering from motion sickness, this might just push them over the edge.
Whether it’s in a pre-packed sandwich or salad, avoid bringing fresh onion on a plane. The smell of fresh onion needs no introduction, it’s widely disliked – cooked onion on the other hand is undoubtedly one of the best smells in the world – and will linger on your breath as well. So if you insist on being a terrible neighbour to your fellow passengers at least pop a mint after consuming onion at altitude.
