Wondered why airline food is so bland and tastes like rubber? When cruising at 35,000ft the cabin altitude is at about 8,000ft. Huh? We’ll basically the higher you go the lower the air pressure gets. In fact above 10,000ft the human body starts to have issues such as a reduced level of ability for the lungs to absorb oxygen. Therefore modern aircraft are pressurised so that the air pressure inside the cabin at cruising level is equivalent to say standing on an 8,000ft mountain.
However the humidity inside the cabin is the same as outside and is very low at <1%. It is a very dry atmosphere so the body can quite easily dehydrate particularly if you drink alcohol and coffee on the flight. The human sense of smell requires humidity to work. No humidity, no smell. When you eat food a large portion of the pleasure of eating comes from smelling the food that you are eating. No smelling ability the food tastes bland.
A positive aspect of not being able to detect smells at 35,000ft is that if you have “wind” problems you can merrily release wind and, as long as it is done quietly, no one around is going to know any better. Ditto for smelly feet. Wait till you are at cruising level before taking off those smelly shoes reaking of foot odour.
Related articles
- The Science Behind Why Airline Food Tastes Bad (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
- You: Airlines Studying the Science of Better In-Flight Meals (nytimes.com)
- Science Reveals Why Airplane Food Tastes So Bad (science.slashdot.org)