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The following is a survey of 12 major airlines' snack and on-board food offerings conducted by DietDetective.com and health advocate, Dr. Charles Platkin, from HUNTER COLLEGE at the City University of New York. Sorry, if you are getting this more than once, we had a few email issues. The survey provides the calorie information of snacks and on-board menu choices, "best bets" and gives each airline a “Health Rating.” This year Virgin America wins the top spot (again) with the "healthiest" choices in the sky, with Delta and Jetblue tied for second. Alaska Airlines fell from grace. The "Shame on You" award goes to Alaska Airlines, Spirit, and Frontier - the least cooperative, and Frontier received the lowest health rating. See the press release below. Let me know if you want to receive the full survey with each food item (the following is an abbreviated survey). Best regards, Elizabeth Cummings, [email protected], 212 -367-7575 ext 117

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There will more than 28.5 million passengers traveling during the 12-day Thanksgiving season according to Airlines for America (A4A). Knowing what are the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ choices is a valuable tool for any traveler, so Dr. Charles Platkin, the director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center and editor of DietDetective.com. once again studied the best ‘Calorie Bargains’ and “Calorie Rip-offs” at 35,000 feet.

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The study assigned a “Health Score” (5 stars = highest rate, 0 star = lowest) based on eleven criteria including 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.

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A 2019 Airline Water Study released by DietDetective.com and the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center reveals that the quality of drinking water varies by airline, and many airlines have possibly provided passengers with unhealthy water.

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DietDetective.com and the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center have released the 2019-20 Airline Food Study, rating foods for eleven (11) airlines. The study assigned a “Health Score” (5 stars = highest rated, 0 star = lowest rated) based on criteria including healthy nutrients and calorie levels of meals, snack boxes and individual snacks, level of transparency (display of nutrient information, menu online & ingredients), improvement and maintenance of healthy offerings, menu innovation and cooperation in providing nutritional information, overall sodium levels, availability of meals on flights under 3 hours, and our Airline Water Health Score.

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Today, the Center for Food As Medicine (famcenter.org) and the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center (nycfoodpolicy.org) released its groundbreaking, 335 page (with more than 2500 citations), first-ever, academic narrative review and report of the food as medicine movement, titled “Food As Medicine: How Food and Diet Impact the Treatment of Disease and Disease Management.”