When it comes to inflight etiquette, few things spark stronger reactions than the food your fellow passenger chooses to bring aboard.
A recent example has once again ignited debate over what’s acceptable to eat mid-air—and what’s best left at home.
Los Angeles-based influencer Jess Marra is at the centre of the controversy. During a domestic US flight, she filmed herself assembling a homemade salad, complete with avocado, rocket – and two whole boiled eggs.
The video, shared to her followers, quickly went viral for all the wrong reasons. Passengers online were horrified by the prospect of the smell wafting through the cabin, calling it “foul,” “disrespectful,” and “unbearable in a confined space.”
While Marra defended her choice as “healthy and light,” social media commenters weren’t having it. As one put it: “There’s a reason plane meals come sealed.”
Boiled eggs are far from the only offenders. Popcorn, for instance, has made it onto many frequent flyers’ unofficial blacklist- not because it’s smelly, but because the aroma is mouth-watering and often impossible to share.
One traveller recalled a fellow passenger munching through an entire bucket of it mid-flight, describing the experience as “torturous” due to the irresistible smell.
Other common culprits include tuna sandwiches (a classic offender), blue cheese crackers, curries, and anything with truffle oil. Even innocent-seeming snacks like crisps can draw ire if they’re too noisy or come in crinkly packaging.
Airlines rarely publish strict rules about what passengers can and can’t eat, but unspoken social codes do exist.
Strong smells, noisy packaging, and meals that require excessive assembly or mess are all generally frowned upon. Cabin crew often get caught in the crossfire, receiving complaints over pungent snacks while being unable to intervene unless safety is involved.
Maybe it’s time we all brush up on our inflight snack game. If your food smells like it could clear a room—or cause a diplomatic incident- it might be worth saving it for the arrival lounge.
Stick to the kind of snacks that won’t start a mid-air mutiny and you’ll be everyone’s favourite seatmate. After all, the only thing that should be taking off is the plane – not the stench of boiled eggs.
