Interestingly, the study found that we take leave of our sweet and salty senses only. Sour, bitter and spicy flavours are almost unaffected.

But it’s not just about our taste buds. Up to 80% of what people think is taste, is in fact smell. We need evaporating nasal mucus to smell, but in the parched cabin air our odour receptors do not work properly, and the effect is that this makes food taste twice as bland.

So airlines have to give in-flight food an extra kick, by salting and spicing it much more than a restaurant on the ground ever would. “Proper seasoning is key to ensure food tastes good in the air,” says Brown at American Airlines. “Often, recipes are modified with additional salt or seasoning to account for the cabin dining atmosphere.”

Gerry McLoughlin, executive chef at rival US airline United, says he has to use “vibrant flavours and spices” to make in-flight meals taste “more robust”.

He and his fellow chefs also have the constant loud humming of the jet engines to contend with. While you may think that flavour is influenced by your nose and mouth, psychologists are now finding that your ears can also play a part. (For more on this, see this video and try out a taste experiment) A study found that people eating to the sound of loud background noise rated food as being less salty and less sweet than those who ate in silence. Another twist: to those surrounded by noise, food surprisingly appeared to sound much crunchier.

However, a plane’s loud background noise of around 85db does not affect all tastes equally, says Spence. For example, seasonings like cardamom, lemon grass and curry taste more intense in the sky than salt or sugar.

Mass-produced recipes



It’s not just the in-cabin conditions that have to be taken into account. Preparing and serving tasty food for a few hundred people above the clouds is not an easy task. Because of food safety standards, all meals must be cooked on the ground. There the food is packed, blast-chilled, refrigerated, and finally must survive re-heating in the air. All of this would modify the flavour even if it was served at sea level.

To re-heat food on board, for safety reasons nearly all airlines use convection ovens, which blow hot, dry air over the food. Microwaves and open flames are not allowed, although the first induction ovens are now on the market.