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Annual airline snack and food ratings.

Byline: DIET DETECTIVE

Every year I contact the media departments of the various airlines
to request nutrition information for the foods they serve economy-class
passengers on domestic flights.

The average number of calories per food item this year is 388.

Here are the snack and onboard food-service offerings from several
of the more popular airlines, along with comments, ratings (Health
Score: 5 stars = highest rating, 0 stars = lowest), calories, and
personal favorites.

Virgin America

 

(877) 359-8474, www.virginamerica.com

Cooperation in providing nutritional information: Very helpful.

Comments: This airline is off the charts when it comes to focusing
on food.

Health Score: {star}{star}{star}{star} 1/4

Best Bets: In terms of individual snacks, the PopChips are a
low-calorie choice; however, the best choice is the nuts. They are
packed with important nutrients and will help keep you full longer than
other snack choices. But you still need to split them with someone.

Most of the individual snacks are not the healthiest choices.

The oatmeal is a good breakfast choice at 310 calories.

Virgin's snack boxes, such as the protein meal with
hummus
 also hum·us or hom·mos  
n.
A smooth thick mixture of mashed chickpeas, tahini, oil, lemon juice, and garlic, used especially as a dip for pita.
,
nuts and tuna, are great. They'll fill you up and will be a real
meal. However, I don't love the Jet Set Kid Pack. Don't
underestimate kids. They will eat healthy foods if packaged well. On
certain flights, Virgin offers peanut butter and jam sandwiches.
That's a better choice.

The meals have become even better than last year. The holiday
turkey sandwich at 410 calories is packed with protein. I also love the
roasted pear and
arugula

 salad with almonds and a fig mustard dressing,
which has 6 grams of fiber and is only 360 calories. The Protein Plate
with hummus, whole-wheat pita and sliced turkey with 8 grams of fiber
and 420 calories is another great choice.

Air Canada

(514) 393-3333, www.aircanada.com

Cooperation: Extremely helpful.

Health Score: {star}{star}{star}{star}

Comments: Once again, Air Canada delivers high-quality
health-conscious cuisine.

Best Bets: Pick the Nissin chicken ramen
noodle soup

. It will fill
you up, and it's more like a meal than a snack. The cashews need to
be shared. They've added apples with caramel dip, great for kids,
but you should limit the caramel. I love the idea of the celery and
carrots with ranch dip so long as you limit the dip to no more than
half.

Most of the full meals offered are relatively low in calories. The
roasted chicken wrap with salsa is only 350 calories. The vegetarian

panini
 , fl. c.400 B.C., Indian grammarian. His Ashtādhyāyī [eight books] (tr. 1891) is one of the earliest works of descriptive linguistics and is also the first individually authored treatise on Sanskrit.
 with
red pepper
 see pepper.
 hummus sounds tasty, and it's only 390
calories for the meal. A new addition to the menu is the pasta salad
with sundried tomato dressing and chicken strips, which is only 330
calories.

For breakfast, go for the Greek yogurt, which is only 150 calories,
or the fruit plate (which sounds delicious) for only 186 calories. Skip
the calorie-laden muffin, but the healthy oatmeal is also a great
offering.

United Airlines

(800) 864-8331, www.united.com

Cooperation: Helpful.

Comments: Wow, have they slipped from a few years ago, when they
were No. 1.

Health Score: {star}{star}{star} 1/2

Best Bets: On flights of more two hours, go for the tapas, which
has almonds, olives, hummus and
bruschetta

Noun

an Italian open sandwich of toasted bread topped with olive oil and tomatoes, olives, etc [Italian]
. Just toss the cheese spread.
Skip the classic and savory snack boxes.

All of the individual snacks are pretty high in calories (330 to
1,020), and they've made it worse by adding
Chex Mix

 and
croissants. Avoid the cinnamon rolls. Also, while the nuts are a best
bet, that's only if you can resist eating the whole thing or split
them with six people; it's a 6-ounce can at 1,020 calories.

The Express AM (389 calories) and PM (434 calories) are not healthy
choices; they're expensive calorie-wise and light on nutrition.

In terms of meals, the yogurt is not too bad for breakfast. Skip
the cheese and fruit plate; it gives the illusion of being healthy, but
it's not, and there's not much fruit that isn't dried.

For flights of more than three hours, United has several healthy
choices, but I really like the grilled chicken spinach salad at 360
calories, including the dressing. The Asian noodle salad (360 calories)
is also a good low-calorie choice. The Thai chicken wrap (570 calories)
and the turkey sandwich (if you avoid the mustard-mayo sauce at 100
calories are OK compared to those of other airlines.

For breakfast, your best bet is the
yogurt parfait

 or the ham and
cheddar rustic
ciabatta

Noun

a type of bread made with olive oil [Italian: slipper]
 sandwich, which is 318 calories (not bad), and
you can get rid of half the roll and save about 100 calories.

JetBlue Airways

 

(800) 538-2583, www.jetblue.com

Cooperation: Very helpful.

Health Score: {star}{star}{star}1/4

Comments: JetBlue has started offering snack boxes on flights of
more than two hours.

Best Bets: Still nothing much in terms of healthy individual
snacks, other than the nuts, which are back on the menu.

They also started selling two items. The beef jerky, at 100
calories, is OK if you're a low-carb, low-calorie fan (just make
sure you don't have high blood pressure; it's high in sodium).

The meal boxes have been modified (and offered on more flights),
but the Shape Up is still the winner. It has fiber, and between the
hummus and the nuts, it should fill you up (496 calories).

American Airlines

(817) 963-1234, www.aa.com

Cooperation: Very helpful.

Comments: AA finally got rid of most of their super-high-calorie
meals.

Health Score: {star}{star}{star}

Best Bets: The Boxer Chips hand-cooked gourmet potato crisps at 188
calories. At 370 calories, the
Sabra
  
n.
A native-born Israeli.

---

[Hebrew
 roasted red pepper hummus with
pretzels is high for a snack, but if you can share it with at least two
other people, it might be a good choice because of the hummus.

They've added several individual snack choices, but none is
healthy. If you are on a flight of more than two hours, go for the
cheese and cracker tray. It has nuts, raisins and cheese, and if you
split it with someone, it would be 170 calories each. For a longer
flight (three hours or more), the best choice is the turkey and
chutney
  
n.
A pungent relish made of fruits, spices, and herbs.

---

[Hindi can
 sandwich, which has lots of protein and even apple slices. It's
only 323 calories without the chips. And kudos to American for lowering
the chips' calories by 80.

On flights of two hours or more, the Insalata Caprese salad (283
calories) would be satisfying without the roll (158 calories). Another
good choice is the Boston Market chicken Caesar salad with chips (which
you can give away) and dressing for 543 calories. The dressing is on the
side (use it sparingly). At the very least, the salad has walnuts and
grapes, and the cheese portions are small. Skip the Swiss cheese and
save 80 calories. The big negative is that it's only available on
transcontinental and Hawaiian flights.

The breakfast sandwich at 384 calories is also OK if you skip the
cookies, which would add 73 more. Skip the breakfast cookie; it will not
fill you up and is really just a cookie. The spiced nuts are high in
calories. The bag, which has 640 calories, should feed at least four.

Delta Air Lines

(404) 773-0305, www.delta.com

Cooperation: More helpful than last year.

Health Score: {star}{star}3/4

Comments: Delta's individual snack choices are not very good.

Best Bets: For the free snacks (on flights 1.5 hours and longer)
the peanuts are the best choice.

Among the snack boxes, the Travel Treats without the Twizzlers and
Oreos will work. The Flight Delights snack box has a few good items,
such as the hummus, salsa and nuts and seeds. It's the graham
sticks (120 calories), Nutella spread (97 calories) and jelly beans that
you need to give away or dump; otherwise, you're looking at more
than 650 calories.

Of the breakfast options, your best bet is the yogurt parfait at
290 calories. Skip the fruit and cheese plate at 560 calories. A turkey
breakfast sandwich on a croissant, if you take off the Swiss cheese, can
be acceptable.

For lunch/dinner, there are not many healthy offerings, but the
smoked turkey
provolone
  
n.
A hard, usually smoked Italian cheese.

---

[Italian, augmentative of provola, a kind of cheese.]
, which is a real meal, is 550 calories without
the mayo. Avoid the Signature Sandwich Combo with chips and cookies at
700 calories.

US Airways

(480) 693-0800, www.usairways.com

Cooperation: Very helpful.

Comments: They've replaced several high-calorie snacks with
lower-calorie versions.

Health Score: {star}{star}3/4

Best Bets: The only individual snacks that work are the nuts and
the chips and salsa. The snack boxes are not the best choices either,
but if you have to choose, the CafePlus has canned
BBQ
 barbecue
 chicken, which
will provide protein. Keep the almonds and give away the cookies and
jelly beans and you'll be OK.

As for meals, for breakfast the egg and turkey bacon sandwich is a
bit high in calories (470), but it's a better choice than the fruit
and cheese plate. Opt for the yogurt parfait at 350 calories (the
granola adds all the calories).

For lunch or dinner, the barbecue chicken salad is a great choice
at 190 calories; also, in December try the chef salad. The smoked turkey
and brie sandwich at 560 calories is not bad either, if you pass on the
cookies and the chips.

Charles Platkin, Ph.D., is a nutrition and public health advocate
and founder of DietDetective.com. Sign up for the free Diet Detective
newsletter at www.DietDetective.com.