{"id":2373,"date":"2025-05-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/?p=2373"},"modified":"2025-05-20T13:04:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T13:04:27","slug":"whats-cooking-i-worked-in-cabin-crew-for-12-years-avoid-these-five-foods-on-planes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/18\/whats-cooking-i-worked-in-cabin-crew-for-12-years-avoid-these-five-foods-on-planes\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Cooking? I worked in cabin crew for 12 years \u2014 avoid these five foods on planes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Charlotte Crocker lets us snoop through her kitchen to see what\u2019s cooking\u2026 (Picture: Andrew Hasson\/Metro.co.uk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Welcome to <\/strong>What\u2019s Cooking<\/strong><\/a>, Metro\u2019s food series where we find out exactly what\u2019s going on behind the scenes in the nation\u2019s kitchens.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last time, we kicked off the series by snooping through Jamie Oliver\u2019s kitchen<\/a> to uncover the \u2018filthy\u2019 food secrets he\u2019s been hiding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This week we\u2019re rifling through Charlotte Crocker\u2019s kitchen in West Sussex. The 47-year-old mum-of-two spent 12 years working as cabin crew on long-haul flights for the likes of Thomas Cook, Astraeus and Caledonian Airways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During that time, she travelled everywhere from Barbados to Dallas, but recently she\u2019s been working in aviation much closer to home, training up new cabin crew recruits with a real focus on mental health and wellbeing in the industry.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever wondered which foods you should avoid eating on a plane <\/a>and why the meals are so salty, we\u2019ve got the answers. We\u2019ll also be finding out what Charlotte tucks into when she\u2019s got her feet firmly planted on the ground, including a favourite food pairing that\u2019s bound to raise a few eyebrows\u2026<\/p>\n

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This week we\u2019re in Charlotte Crocker\u2019s kitchen (Picture: Andrew Hasson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before we invade your kitchen, we want the inside scoop. What did your time as a flight attendant teach you about plane food?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s very difficult to have healthy food at 35,000 feet and there are several reasons for this. The first is that our bodies are functioning differently at that altitude, so our tastes change and the food becomes bland, so we end up having to put lots of salt and seasoning on the meals to make it taste better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in economy, the frozen meals are not the greatest quality and that\u2019s because of the budget \u2013 if you want really cheap flights, you\u2019re not going to be able to have the type of food that you get in first-class, which is of a much higher standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also really hard to produce decent food when you don\u2019t have a decent kitchen at 35,000 feet and this is true no matter where you\u2019re sitting. The galley in first-class is lovely but the ovens aren\u2019t actually any different to the ones down the back of the plane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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It can be hard to have good quality, healthy food at 35,000 feet claims the former flight attendant (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is there anything you\u2019d never eat on a plane?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Personally, I don\u2019t drink alcohol on planes as it\u2019s very dehydrating. I also try to stay away from anything fizzy <\/strong>as well as food that\u2019s too salty or spicy because it causes bloating and nobody wants to be unwell on a plane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s unlikely you\u2019ll get food poisoning on a flight, it\u2019s more a case of using common sense when it comes to what you\u2019re eating. Cabin crew are trying their best, but it gets very busy in the galley during catering, sometimes lids get dropped and salad doesn\u2019t always get washed.<\/p>\n

So for that reason, I\u2019d avoid any food (fruit and salad in particular) that isn\u2019t served in a sealed packet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best meal to have on a flight?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I used to eat the crew food and polish off whatever passengers didn\u2019t want, because it was cheaper and easier, but I soon realised this wasn\u2019t doing me any good. There\u2019s too much fat and salt in the meals and snacks \u2013\u00a0 I would end up feeling absolutely horrendous.<\/p>\n

I had to reprogram myself and start taking my own food on flights. It\u2019s a complete pain to have to do meal prep, but it makes such a difference and I recommend giving it a try as it\u2019s so much better for you.<\/p>\n

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As a former cabin crew member, Charlotte avoids most plane food and packs her own lunchbox for a flight (Picture: Andrew Hasson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You have to be careful and check what you\u2019re allowed to take through the airport and on your specific flight, but I usually opt for things like packet soups, tea bags, oatcakes and instant porridge pots. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also taken salads on 12-hour flights in a refrigerated lunch box and eaten it at around the six-hour mark.\u00a0You should be fine with anything that doesn\u2019t have too much liquid in it and won\u2019t make you ill if it\u2019s out of the fridge for a while.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re not up in the clouds, what\u2019s your go-to dinner after work? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The M25 commute from Heathrow<\/a> can take a while, so I take food with me to work and eat it in the car at the end of the day. This usually includes a gluten-free bagel, some ham, a pot of mayo, carrot sticks and raw broccoli.<\/p>\n

When I get home I have a chamomile tea and go to bed. <\/p>\n

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The mum\u2019s guilty food pleasure is a hot cross bun with scrambled eggs (made with oat milk) and cheese (Picture: Andrew Hasson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We want to know a secret. What\u2019s your ultimate guilty pleasure food?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese on top of a toasted hot cross bun \u2013 with lots of butter and fresh parsley too. It was a craving I had when I was pregnant with my second child and it\u2019s still something I enjoy eating now, almost 15 years later \u2013 it\u2019s so nice.<\/p>\n

Tell us about a storecupboard item you can\u2019t live without\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s always a big glass jar filled with walnuts and raisins in the cupboard and I just dip my hand in whenever I\u2019m going by and snack on those. My kids do the same thing too, which is interesting as it\u2019s a fairly healthy snack for two teenage boys.<\/p>\n

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A sneaky look inside Charlotte\u2019s storecupboard, where she always keeps a jar of walnuts and raisins (Picture: Andrew Hasson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And is there something that always has to be in your fridge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oat milk \u2013 even if the rest of the fridge was empty, there would be oat milk in there. I use it in everything from hot chocolate to porridge, scrambled eggs and lattes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What about the freezer, what food do you keep in there at all times?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Emergency fish fingers for the kids, for those moments when you\u2019ve run out of time and energy! Most of our frozen stuff comes from Tesco, as it\u2019s a lot cheaper than anywhere else near us and the quality is good.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s always a box of emergency fish fingers in the fridge (Picture: Andrew Hasson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Name one ingredient you\u2019ll always be willing to splurge on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Japanese matcha powder. I\u2019m completely addicted to it, so much so that I once paid $9 for a matcha latte at a Starbucks in LA. I still can\u2019t get over the price.<\/p>\n

It is cheaper to make it yourself at home, but I always try to get good quality matcha from an actual supplier. It has to be food-grade as I don\u2019t want to risk buying \u2018fake\u2019 matcha \u2013 there\u2019s a lot of that being sold online.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, which kitchen staple isn\u2019t worth splashing the cash on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no point spending money on ready meals. You can usually cook the same dish for less money and it tastes better too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s always oat milk in the fridge in this house (Picture: Andrew Hasson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally\u2026 what\u2019s been cooking in your kitchen lately?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone eats different things in my family, but as the weather has been nice, we\u2019ve all been out in the garden so there\u2019s been sausages and steaks on the BBQ with loads of sides, plus a big jug full of freshly squeezed orange juice with lots of ice. <\/p>\n

Want to take part in What\u2019s Cooking and let Metro raid your kitchen at home? Email courtney.pochin@metro.co.uk<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charlotte Crocker lets us snoop through her kitchen to see what\u2019s cooking\u2026 (Picture: Andrew Hasson\/Metro.co.uk) Welcome to What\u2019s Cooking, Metro\u2019s food series where we find out exactly what\u2019s going on behind the scenes in the nation\u2019s kitchens. Last time, we kicked off the series by snooping through Jamie Oliver\u2019s kitchen to uncover the \u2018filthy\u2019 food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2373"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2384,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2373\/revisions\/2384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}