Man Claims IndiGo’s Upma, Poha Contains 'Higher Sodium' Than Maggi, Airline Responds

People travelling on flights often complain about the “poor quality” food and beverages served. From discovering insects in food to being served with stale items, airlines continue to receive flak over their nearly inedible meals. Speaking of which, a social media influencer has now drawn attention to another downside of airline food, claiming that certain pre-packaged meals served by IndiGo contain “high sodium” levels. Revant Himatsingka, a health influencer popularly known as Food Pharmer, shared a video about the meal being served by the airline onboard. While his shocking statement created quite a stir among users, IndiGo, in a quick response, dismissed the claims.

In his video, the influencer shows a few food items like poha, upma, and dal chawal and claims that they have a higher salt amount even more than Maggi.

“Most of us already know that Maggi is a high sodium food! What most of don’t know is that Indigo’s Magic Upma has 50% more sodium than Maggi, Indigo’s Poha has ~83% more sodium than Maggi, and Daal Chawal has as much sodium as Maggi,” his caption read. Further, Revant also explained that these food items may sound healthy, but they aren’t and are even more dangerous than junk food.

The influencer claimed that the reduced sensitivity of taste buds at high altitudes is the reason people don’t perceive the extra salt in airline food.

He shared how Indians already consumed a lot of sodium, which contributes to increased blood pressure and can result in hypertension, heart issues, and kidney issues.

According to a report in Money Control, IndiGo Airlines issued an immediate statement reaffirming its commitment to provide safe and nutritious food options to passengers. Stressing that all the food items adhere to strict FSSAI norms, they added, “Passengers have the choice of choosing from freshly prepared pre-booked meals or purchase pre-packaged food products on board. The preparation of some pre-packaged products is done as per traditional Indian recipes and the salt content is well within prescribed norms.”

While IndiGo strongly dismisses the claims, Himatsingka’s scrutiny has drawn a lot of attention with users reacting to the video.

A user wrote, “Wow, who would have thought that our ‘healthy’ in-flight meals could be hiding such a sodium minefield? This really makes me wonder what other surprises are lurking in our daily lives,” while another one commented, “Explains why so many people tend to fight within Indigo and tarmac. Unusually high sodium.”

“It’s concerning, Revant, to see how seemingly healthy options can pack such a sodium punch. We need more transparency in food labeling to make informed choices,” another one posted.