Why do you want tomato juice on a plane? Why do people drink tomato juice on a plane? Flying affects our taste

Recently, the American airline United Airlines announced that its flight attendants will no longer deliver tomato juice to passengers. The travelers were indignant. And what do you think? It turns out that scientists believe that they were right, and their indignation is well founded. An airplane is the very place where drinking such juice is simply necessary. And now we will find out why.

Passenger riot

The backlash from Twitter users against the airline became extremely intense earlier this month. Users were highly critical of United Airlines. This had nothing to do with the company's inability to cope with aggressive passengers or the lack of adequate legroom or, at worst, faulty screens near the seats. The thing is that her future plans include removing tomato juice from the menu of drinks served during the flight. This decision caused almost a real riot. Some passengers threatened to surrender their tickets, others came up with humorous memes, but only a few began to think about why they were so obsessed with the desire to drink this salty red liquid while traveling by plane. But be that as it may, the level of criticism of the company was simply off the charts!

The airline has given up!

If you belong to that crowd of thousands of passengers who cannot imagine being on board an airplane without a disposable cup filled with tomato juice at room temperature, then you will perfectly understand the indignation that has overcome travelers. This digital uprising prompted a quick response from the company. Its management apologized in social networks. Its representatives stated that they heard the wishes of passengers and promised to leave tomato juice on the menu, since they really value their customers.

Better than beer?

The Twitter storm over tomato juice was not the act of bored Internet trolls. People really needed this drink. This has been proven by recent scientific research. Few people like tomato juice. On our sinful earth it is rarely ordered. But everything changes dramatically when people reach a height of 11 thousand meters. Tomato juice then becomes the most desirable choice because of the altitude effect that affects our sense of taste.

The most fundamental research in this regard can be called the report of the Fraunhofer Society, a German research institute whose employees dealt with this issue on behalf of the Lufthansa company. The fact is that this German airline saw that in a year it produced 53,000 gallons (just over 200 thousand liters) of tomato juice. At the same time, 59,000 gallons (224 thousand liters) of beer were purchased. The idea that tomato juice can compete with beer seems laughable at first. So it's easy to understand why Lufthansa executives were confused.

Flying affects our taste

The Fraunhofer Society's experiments included recreating the conditions that surround passengers in an airplane cabin. Among other things, this was a humidity level of 10-15%, which is standard for aircraft. This level of humidity dries out the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth, reducing the sense of taste. Add to this low blood pressure, which reduces the level of oxygen in the blood, which also affects both our sense of smell and taste buds. Now the appeal of a flavored and salty drink like tomato juice is starting to make some sense.

Tomato juice makes flying easier

Ernst Derenthal, executive director of Lufthansa in the field of passenger nutrition, after the publication of the study results, said in an interview with NBC: “We learned about a very interesting thing. When we are on the ground and drink tomato juice, it seems to us... well, not exactly moldy, but, to put it mildly, not entirely fresh. That's why not very many people like him. But when you rise to a height of 10 thousand meters, your body immediately feels all the positive qualities of tomato juice. Its acidity is quite high - which is what we need when traveling on a plane - it has a kind of mineral taste, and it is very refreshing.”

Sound and taste buds

But there is another factor that influences the fact that in most cases we choose tomato juice during a flight. This is the sound. A 2015 study by Cornell University found that when we fly through the sky in a metal craft at 575 miles (920 kilometers) per hour, we hear 85 decibels. In this regard, Robin Dando, assistant professor of food science at the university, said the study confirmed that our sense of taste is distorted when our bodies are exposed to extreme high levels noise. These sensations acquire some characteristics. This is how the receptors for the sensation of sweetness weaken. But the sensation of "umami" - the Japanese word best suited to express the elusive balance between sweet and salty tastes, on the contrary, is enhanced. So, tomato juice is very strong in umami.

The power of suggestion

Of course, these studies caused not only serious discussions, but also many jokes. Some passengers said the biggest factor driving the "tomato juice revolution" in aviation was the power of suggestion. People often subconsciously “become monkeys” and order what their neighbors in the row ask them to serve. Haven't you encountered similar phenomena on earth? Well, here's the simplest example. You come to a restaurant with friends to have lunch. You still can't decide what to order and are in thought. And then your friend tells the waiter that he wants sea bass for lunch. Suddenly you make a decision and say to the waiter: “And the same for me, please.” Therefore, it is quite possible that when you board the plane, the flight attendants start serving drinks, and some guy next to you opens a can of tomato juice and starts drinking it greedily, then you will immediately want the same. You don’t hold back and order tomato juice for yourself. But some passengers offer to diversify the menu with a life hack. Ask for more vodka to transform that tired tomato juice into the iconic Bloody Mary cocktail. And then the trip will definitely be successful.

Airplane food tends to seem weird to us. The usual rice or ham seems too dry or simply tasteless. But real metamorphoses occur with tomato juice. Few people like it, but everyone always drinks it on board the plane. It's all about our senses, which behave differently in the air.

Scientists from Cornell University decided to figure out why airplane food seems so strange and what makes passengers order tomato juice during a flight.

It turns out that it’s all about the sounds around us, as well as a decrease in pressure and dry air, reports Day.Az with reference to BG.

It's all about the noise

Our senses are interconnected. And when we rise into the sky on board an airplane, where pressure, humidity and dryness change, our senses are affected by several factors at once. In their study, Robin Dando and Kimberly Yang from Cornell University paid special attention to one of them - sound.

The volume of noise on board an airplane can reach 85 decibels - almost the same level of noise we are exposed to in a car on the roads of a big city.

The study involved 48 volunteers of different ages who listened to airplane sounds at a volume of 80 to 85 decibels using high-sensitivity headphones. They were then tested for their taste perception.

Each participant had to taste a mixture that was dominated by one taste or another: salty, bitter, sour, sweet, or umami (the Japanese term for the hard-to-describe sweet-spicy taste found in foods containing glutamate, such as tomatoes or aged cheese ).

As a result, scientists discovered that loud sound affects some taste buds. In particular, people's perception of sweetness changed, and the taste of umami was stronger. The sound did not affect the receptors responsible for salty, bitter and sour tastes.

The experiment thus shows that a particular taste is the result of a complex interaction of our senses and that it may well be influenced by the atmosphere in which we taste the dish.

Why do we drink tomato juice on the plane?

To check how our taste changes during flight conditions, in 2010, scientists from the Institute of Building Physics named after. Fraunhofer created a flight simulator using an old Airbus, in which scientists could reduce the pressure. The atmosphere inside the Airbus was practically no different from what we experience on board an airplane, except that there were no clouds floating outside the window.

As a result, scientists discovered that the decrease in pressure also affects the taste buds of passengers: it becomes more difficult for them to detect aromatic substances, which largely determine the taste sensation. In addition, at low blood pressure we experience less salty and sweet tastes, and the perception of umami tastes feels almost the same as anywhere else.

Thus, the taste of tomatoes seems more familiar to us than the taste of other foods. This may be why people prefer tomato juice on an airplane, although in everyday life they may drink it quite rarely.

It is also possible that due to the decrease in humidity during the flight, our perception of the smell of tomato juice changes.

How airlines are trying to improve the taste of food

Airlines are trying to correct atmosphere-related taste disorders with sauces. It is believed that this approach was first proposed by the French chef Raymond Oliver. In 1973, when he developed the menu for Union de Transports Aériens aircraft, he suggested basting main courses with sauce to prevent the meat from becoming dry due to the heat and dry atmosphere on board the aircraft.

Why do we always choose tomato juice on a plane, how can we ask for a refill, and why should we drink more plain water and eat less? The flight attendants speak!

Tomatomania

It turns out that during one flight, passengers drink an average of 30-40% more tomato juice than apple or orange juice. And everyone has known about this for a long time, so initially more bottles of tomato are loaded onto the plane.

“Juice is loaded at the rate of 1 liter per 10 passengers. For example, in my airline, on a plane with 126 seats, there will be approximately 8 liters of tomato juice, 3 liters of apple juice and 2 liters of orange juice,” says a flight attendant on condition of anonymity.

Why does it happen that even those on earth who can’t stand it drink tomato juice in heaven?

“I have two versions,” the flight attendant reflects. – Firstly, after traveling, being at the airport, taking off, etc., a feeling of hunger simply appears. But tomato juice is still more satisfying. Secondly, at altitude the perception of taste changes, and you crave something salty to maintain the water-salt balance. But then again, what kind of imbalance is there on an hour-long flight? Therefore, it seems to me that the principle “everyone drinks, and I drink” works here.

Would you like some extra?

By the way, according to the observations of flight attendants, the magic of tomato juice does not work on children or foreigners.

“On Russian flights, everyone mostly drinks tomato juice. I remember I often flew to Kyrgyzstan, where passengers prefer apple. The Chinese prefer orange, but the Spaniards love apple!”

“Children most often drink apple juice. In the summer, more children fly, so at this time of year there is often a tomato one left, but in winter there may not be enough for all passengers,” says the flight attendant.

On the plane you can always ask for a second and third glass of juice. If there are any drinks left, the flight attendants will definitely give you a refill. But in fact, it is better to drink ordinary water in large quantities - this way the body will better tolerate the flight.

To eat or not to eat?

The flight attendants themselves (especially female representatives) prefer, in principle, not to eat during the flight, because they take care of their figure. The fact is that at altitude, food is poorly digested due to many factors - pressure, imbalance, and stress in general. So gaining extra pounds is as easy as shelling pears! In addition, in-flight meals are prepared using a large number of additives, which does not make it low-calorie.

Therefore, if you fly often (for example, on business trips), try not to eat a lot. Drink more still water, you can have a light snack and eat only the vegetable salad that most airlines offer.

Those who fly regularly are most often faced with a difficult choice on board: firstly, fish or meat, and secondly, juice, water, tea or coffee, which are equally offered free of charge by the flight attendants. Many people have noticed at least once that they always want to drink tomato juice on board more than any other, and someone emphasized that for some reason they prefer tomato juice only on the plane, although in ordinary life they do not like it. The Village spoke with experts to find out why tomato juice may taste better in flight than the same juice on the ground.

Damir Yarlushkin

expert of NP "Roskontrol"

Scientists from the American Psychological Association have found that on board an airplane, under the influence of constant loud noise, the sensations from a person’s taste and olfactory receptors change. Due to this, tomato juice with a pronounced umami taste is in particular demand among airline passengers. Umami is the taste of glutamic acid, one of the five tastes that humans can taste (along with sweet, bitter, sour and salty). Due to this change in taste sensations, which is aggravated by the dryer air on the plane, passengers are beginning to give a clear preference to tomato juice.

There's nothing wrong with that. Lightly salted tomato juice helps maintain water-salt balance during the flight. In addition, like fresh tomatoes, it contains a lot of the beneficial antioxidant lycopene.

Yulia Mikheeva

S7 Airlines flight attendant-instructor

Passengers actually order tomato juice much more often than apple or orange juice. Perhaps this is due to the fact that during the flight the pressure changes, the taste intensifies and you want something salty. In addition, tomato juice is richer, with pulp, and can satisfy your hunger faster. Perhaps this factor plays a role.

Orange and apple may seem more sour, but tomato somehow goes well. I know this from myself. When I fly as a passenger, I definitely take it. Tomato juice is ordered probably 30 percent more often than other juices, and it runs out the fastest. That’s why they load more of it on board: sometimes for every ten packs of apple and orange we take 15 tomato packs.

This, by the way, also depends on the direction. For example, when flying east, passengers prefer apple and orange juice. I can’t explain what this is connected with. In Europe, to the West, in Russia - tomato is in the lead.

Pilots rarely drink tomato juice. They usually drink tea, mostly green, and still water, most often with lemon. And I noticed this with the flight attendants. Some flight attendants drink tomato juice and refuse to eat during the flight - apparently because tomato juice is already quite high in calories: it gives energy, and it has an interesting taste, and is salty, and is absorbed well.

The fact that passengers always want to eat more during a flight is clear. Rarely does anyone refuse to eat. This is also due to the fact that a lot of time is spent on the road to the airport, all the airport formalities, so your appetite increases and food in flight seems tastier.

Andrej Duncic

A320 pilot-in-command, S7 Airlines instructor pilot

There was a series of TV shows about the work of the airport in general - one of the stories was from the catering department. They said that at altitude the sensitivity of taste buds is dulled, therefore, so that food does not seem bland, it is slightly oversalted. That's why tomato juice tastes delicious. In addition, you are always thirsty during a flight because the air in the cabin is drier. And if you've flown long distances, you've probably felt thirsty all the time, and that's normal.

I love tomato juice since childhood. And sometimes I drink it in the air, because it is unsweetened and best quenches thirst. Even among passengers, tomato juice is the most divergent. But more often I drink water with lemon during the flight - this is more correct, it comes with experience. For example, coffee, on the contrary, removes water. If you fly somewhere to the east, somewhere far away, four hours there and back, you drink 1.5–2 liters during the entire flight.

Personally, my taste preferences do not change at altitude - apparently, I have been flying for too long, since 1997. On a flight, I myself usually eat very little, although our ration is quite large. I'm taking some sweets for the child.

Sergey Belkov

chemical technologist, flavorist

In fact, there is no official data that people purposefully prefer tomato juice to other drinks on airplanes. There are certain airline statistics that do show that the proportion of tomato juice consumed in the air is slightly higher than its sales in stores on the ground. But I would approach this statistics with caution, since its simplest explanation may not lie at all in the peculiarities of changes in taste, but in the peculiarities of collecting statistics. It’s one thing for a buyer to choose a drink from 30 or even 100 types of juice in a store, and another thing to choose from three types of juice in the air (and you’re unlikely to see a hypermarket assortment on board). Probability theory clearly predicts that in conditions of limited choice on board, tomato juice will be chosen more often. Therefore, I would be skeptical about claims that people suddenly begin to prefer tomato juice precisely because they find themselves on a plane.

Another point that also needs to be taken into account is the price of the product. The cost of juice on board for the consumer is conditionally zero, he does not pay for it, and this zero means a lot. Exists great amount works on behavioral economics, showing that consumer behavior in conditions where a product is available for free is fundamentally different from its behavior in conditions of classical economic relations. In simple terms, the proverb “for free and sweet vinegar” is appropriate here.

And finally, a person’s perception of tastes is very sensitive to conditions, subjective and objective factors of the surrounding and internal world. Some people think that the whole point is that the air on the plane is drier and the body is trying to replenish minerals in this way - but for some reason the body does not do this mineral water, but juice, which contains fewer minerals. Another version is that the sensitivity of the receptors of different tastes depends on air pressure and to the taste of umami (and tomato juice, due to its fairly high content of glutamate, has exactly this taste), sensitivity is lost less than to sweets. This version, although not experimentally confirmed, is at least similar to the truth.

For adherents of the latter hypothesis, I have two news. The good news is that the perception of tastes on a plane does change. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be a matter of pressure. Most likely it's noise. Obviously, noise, like any other environmental factor, should influence the perception of taste. But exactly how it influences was elegantly demonstrated in a series of experiments published in the journal Experimental Psychology last year. It turns out that in conditions of constant noise (namely, in such conditions a passenger finds himself while eating on an airplane), the perception of sweet taste is weakened, while the umami taste, on the contrary, is felt more vividly. In other words, if there is an effect of improving the taste of tomato juice on an airplane, then it is associated not with pressure or humidity, but with engine noise. Salty, sour and bitter tastes are not affected by this.

Sofia Zarubina

Junior Researcher, Faculty of Chemistry, Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosova, blog author @iknowchemistry

It is known that Lufthansa conducted a survey of passengers as part of a project to improve in-flight catering. It turned out that a quarter of passengers choose tomato juice, of which only 25% noticed that the drink tastes better. Let's assume that in Airbus cabin A310-200 has a capacity of approximately 250 people, then only 15 people claim an improvement in the taste of tomato juice. The survey statistics are questionable, as only 6% of respondents give a positive answer. Moreover, the survey sample is unknown: gender, age, education, health and social status. At the same time, you need to understand that on airplanes they give packaged juices, which can have different tastes depending on the quality. I would like to point out that the airline’s publication does not contain links to real scientific research, which is not surprising, since the survey could have been commercial and had purposes unknown to us. Moreover, from the survey results it is impossible to connect the taste sensations of passengers with their individual preferences.

According to the same study, due to the reduced pressure on board an airplane, salt loses its taste by about 30%. Yes, it’s true that the pressure on board an airplane is somewhat lower than on the ground. The reason for this is aerodynamic expediency. Therefore, passengers often have blocked ears. The condition is also significantly affected by engine noise. The loss of taste can also be associated with the fact that drinks are served on board an airplane at a noticeable period of time after eating, which leads to a disruption in the water-salt balance and an increase in the feeling of hunger.

The passenger's pre-flight stress, which affects hormonal levels, can also play a significant role here. The body produces a special hormone, cortisol, followed by adrenaline. As a result, the passenger’s blood pressure increases, the pulse increases, saliva production decreases, and glycogen from the liver is broken down, releasing glucose into the blood. During times of stress, glucose gives energy and strength to overcome a difficult period.

At the same time, people react to stress differently: some lose their appetite, while others, on the contrary, want to eat it. Tomato juice is quite thick, and it can quickly dull the feeling of hunger.

Thus, individuals are influenced by different factors that can alter taste sensations. Thus, 6% of respondents could subjectively perceive changes in taste as an improvement in the taste of tomato juice. However, it is worth noting that such situations are interesting and require deeper scientific research.

ILLUSTRATION: Dasha Chertanova

On earth, to satisfy our thirst, we drink different drinks: beer, soda, water and others. However, as soon as you take off on board an aircraft, most people for some reason choose tomato juice. This healthy drink tastes delicious and sharpens our taste buds.

A few years ago, the German airline Lufthansa announced that it managed to sell 200 thousand liters of tomato juice in a year. And this along with 220 thousand liters of beer per year. What is the reason for this phenomenon?

Ernst Derenthal, the airline's kitchen manager, said:

“The Germans are a nation that understands beer. And we were surprised by these results."

Lufthansa decided to conduct a study to find out why passengers drink tomato juice on planes.
The Fraunhofer community from the German Research Institute was hired for this purpose.

For the experiment, we used the fuselage of an old Airbus A310, inside of which flight conditions at altitude were created - pressure, turbulence, engine noise. Photos of the sky and clouds were inserted into the windows.
Test participants were served various foods and drinks and then filled out a report.

Most of the subjects wrote in their reports that they found the tomato juice on board tastier than on the ground.

We knew a lot about the taste of tomato juice on, let’s say, the surface of the earth. Agree that tomato juice does not have any special taste and aroma, and to some it seems not fresh at all and smells of mold, Mr. Derenthal added.

However, as soon as the plane rises to an altitude of 10,000 meters, tomato juice shows itself in a completely different way. The taste of the juice changes, it becomes more acidic and mineral and is very refreshing.
Here's why this happens: at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the pressure in the plane's cabin remains at the level of the atmosphere one mile above sea level.
Due to such low pressure, the following processes occur: our blood receives less oxygen and our olfactory and taste buds become less sensitive.

Due to low pressure, the nasal mucosa is dehydrated and it becomes less “picky” about odors. Those. we stop catching some of them.

Most airlines keep cabin humidity at 10-15 percent. Because of this, the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose become even more dehydrated, which adversely affects the taste of food.

Sweets become less sweet, salty foods become less salty, and the taste of herbs and spices is muted.
By the way, one of the spices that does not change its taste at altitude is curry.

Thus, almost all food at altitude has a more bland and bland taste than on earth.
But tomato juice really tastes better if you drink it in the airplane cabin with salt and pepper - we knew that, says Derenthal. It is tomato juice with salt that makes “failed” taste buds work. If you drink tomato juice with salt before eating, the food on board will no longer be so bland.

But it's not just a matter of changing the taste of the product, there must be something else. Research continued.

Flight attendants served tomato juice to passengers and asked why they chose it.

The results showed that it's not just about taste. Some said that the juice seemed more satisfying to them, others that it calmed the stomach. For some it helps with air sickness.
And some people drink tomato juice simply because it is available.

In addition, it was noticed that if someone takes tomato juice, his neighbors are very likely to also choose this drink.

Summarizing all of the above, we can say that tomato juice on an airplane tastes better than on the ground, for the most part, due to atmospheric changes in the aircraft cabin. And if we add here the preferences of the people who drink this juice on the ground, we get the same 200,000 liters of tomato juice sold on board Lufthansa planes.

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