Airline passengers often complain about the taste and quality of the food served on commercial airlines. Many passengers claim the food lacks flavor or that it is tasteless. Complaints about quality are, of course, subjective, but the food served inside an airplane cabin at cruising altitudes of 30,000 feet or more, tastes bland for a good reason. According to CNN, human taste buds lose sensitivity in these conditions -- not due to the elevation -- but rather the pressurized climate and relative dryness of the air in the cabin. These conditions dehydrate the body and desensitize the palate.
Many airlines seek to improve customer service; and food service is an area that receives considerable focus. Complaints about the taste of food served in-flight, prompted Lufthansa to conduct a number of scientific experiments, in an attempt to improve its menu offerings. The airline re-created high altitude in-flight conditions using a modified Airbus A310 as a testing environment and served a variety of foods. The Wall Street Journal reported that the initial results found that the cabin conditions diminished the ability of the test subjects to taste salty and sweet flavors by up to 30 percent.
Acclimatizing systems in commercial airlines regulate air temperature, cabin pressure and air humidity, by recycling the air in the sealed cabin, causing very dry and dehydrating conditions.These conditions create an environment in which most foods seem to taste bland at high altitudes. The sense of smell is responsible for up to 80 percent of a human's tasting capacity. In dry conditions -- such as an acclimatized airplane cabin -- our nasal receptors become less effective, as nasal mucus evaporates, diminishing our tasting capabilities. .
Airlines attempt to compensate for the lack of taste that passengers experience during high-altitude flights, by increasing the seasoning in their in-flight food. Certain tastes withstand the effects of an acclimatized airplane cabin better than others. Strong flavors, such as curry, lemon grass and cardamom are less diminished in these conditions than salt and sugar, according to the Lufthansa study. In some cases, when airline chefs increase the salt content of the food, this can actually lead to further passenger dehydration and increase the blandness of the food.
