Airlines cater to many tastes but leave nutrition to the traveler

Meals are back on airlines -- but often at a price. The “buy-on-board” programs allow passengers to order food, ranging from snacks to full meals.

The programs are in place (or in pilot programs) on US Airways, Song (a new low-fare airline operated by Delta), Delta, Midwest, Northwest, United, American Eagle and other carriers.

Choices include entrees from restaurants such as T.G.I. Friday’s and Einstein Bros., organic products such as Stonyfield Farm yogurt as well as snacks such as Pringles potato chips and Snickers candy bars. Some menus were created by well-known chefs.

The airlines tout the new buy-on-board menus as higher-quality choices. What’s missing is nutritional information that breaks down calories, fat, sodium and other data. Whether the new menus are more healthful than the old fare is difficult to determine.

The vendors offering the buy-on-board choices say they hope to provide more nutritional information in the future. “We don’t have a nutritional breakdown of the meals,” says Annette Rogers, a spokeswoman for LSG Sky Chefs of Irving, Texas, which supplies the food for half a dozen buy-on-board programs.

“We don’t position any as low carb or low fat,” she says. “With the concept of meals on board being so new, we haven’t yet gone to that next step.” She thinks it will happen but doesn’t know when. “We can provide a list of ingredients,” says Rogers, whose company works with US Airways, Midwest, Northwest, United and American Eagle. Passengers can request that list from flight attendants after they board, she says, and read it before ordering.

Those with a basic knowledge of nutrition can sort through the offerings and figure out what’s most healthful or make an educated guess. For instance, Delta offers a roast breast of turkey and provolone cheese sandwich on nine-grain bread. The turkey is 97% fat free, with the mayonnaise and spicy mustard served on the side.

We asked two registered dietitians for advice for health-conscious passengers faced with buy-on-board menus, using Delta and US Airways menus as examples.

If you’re eating breakfast on Delta, the fruit cup is probably best, although it lacks protein, says Alicia Moag-Stahlberg, a Skokie, Ill., dietitian. The bagel with cream cheese isn’t a bad choice either, adds Susan Moores, a St. Paul, Minn., dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Assn. “But use half the cream cheese or skip it,” she says.

The turkey jack bagel, which includes jack cheese and cream cheese, served on a cheese bagel, gets a thumbs down from Moores because of its fat content. Other entrees to avoid or modify: Delta’s Tuscan trio sandwich, which has turkey, ham and roast beef. “It sounds like an awful lot of meat,” Moores says. To reduce fat, remove the cheese or some of the meat. Reduce the meat serving until it is about the width and length of a deck of cards, and you have a healthy, 3-ounce serving size, Moores says.

US Airways’ shrimp Caesar salad gets a modified thumbs up from both dietitians. “If you had your own low-fat dressing, the shrimp salad would be OK,” Moag-Stahlberg says.

Other easy ways to cut down: Make a sandwich open-faced by discarding one piece of bread. Order salad dressing on the side and use half. Adjust portion sizes by eating half of big dishes or removing some meat from sandwiches.

Healthy Traveler appears every other week. Kathleen Doheny can be reached at kathleen doheny@earthlink.net.