Nutritive value of Libyan airline meals

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to assess the nutritive value of Libyan airline meals in comparison with RDA.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was carried out using food samples collected from the catering department of Benina International Airport, Benghazi, Libya, for a period of two months. Different types of meals served for breakfast, lunch (beef meal, chicken meal and lamb meal) and snacks were collected in triplicate from the catering department of the airport prior to being loaded onto the aircraft. These samples were taken immediately to the university laboratory and weighed after removing the bones and separating the different dishes from the pre‐plated meal box. Rice, different vegetables and meat were weighed separately using a digital balance. Measuring cups were used to measure liquids. Chefs were consulted regarding the amount of different ingredients that went into the preparation of the different recipes to enable nutritive value computation using food composition tables. Finally the nutrient content of each meal and snack were compared with the RDA.

Findings

The results on the nutritive value of the dishes served for breakfast, lunch and snacks revealed higher amounts of energy, carbohydrates, saturated fat and sodium in comparison with the RDA in most of the meals, whereas the micronutrient content with respect to vitamins A, E and C, most B vitamins, and iron and calcium did not meet the RDA in respect of most of the meals.

Practical implications

The airline needs to look seriously into this issue and improve the micronutrient content of its meals, simultaneously reducing the total energy and sodium content and replacing the saturated fat present in the meals in the best interests of preventing health risks to frequent airline passengers.

Originality/value

The paper assesses the nutritional value of one airline's meals.

Citation

Sachithananthan, V., Buzgeia, M., Khalifa, E. and Abdul Hamid, N. (2009), "Nutritive value of Libyan airline meals", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 389-397. https://doi.org/10.1108/00346650910976266