Airlines remove potatoes and carrots from vegetarian menus

Taiwan's five airlines began removing potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables from their in-flight vegetarian menus yesterday to comply with regulations from the International Air Transport Association.
The measure was expected to provoke complaints from Taiwanese vegetarian passengers already riled by the limited choice of in-flight food, the Chinese-language Liberty Times daily reported yesterday.
China Airlines, Mandarin Airlines, EVA Airways, Uni Air and TransAsia Airways said they would adapt their vegetarian offerings and supply more uncooked vegetable choices.
The change in the regulations is the result of following Indian vegetarian rules and a lack of understanding of practices prevalent with vegetarians in East Asia, reports said.Vegetarians in India are not allowed to eat vegetables that grow under the soil and never see the light of day, reports said. IATA may not understand the eating habits of Asian vegetarians from outside India, said Liu Tsan-hsiung, top cook at EVA. He said his airline would first gauge passenger reaction before considering filing an application with IATA to change the rules.
Meals on Taiwanese airlines will no longer be able to use local favorites like sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes and even ginger, Liu said. Without ginger, it will be difficult to achieve the traditional Taiwanese flavors, the Liberty Times quoted the catering official as saying.
For 50 years each airline in the world decided on its own what kinds of menu it could offer, but now for the first time, IATA drew up 54 types of menu tailored to a variety of passengers from vegetarians to children and infants to members of religious groups. IATA was not only listing the menus, but also regulating the ingredients that could be used.
While expected to result in complaints from some passengers, the new food rules mean that travelers will no longer accidentally eat food that might violate some of their own rules or religious guidelines.
02/06/09 eTaiwan News

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2009