Study finds food on US airline is getting healthier

When you are travelling 885 kilometres at 10700 metres in the air, your food choices are pretty limited.

The good news is that the overall trend in airline food is improving, with one of the world's largest carriers making huge strides toward more healthful food over the past year.

That was the assessment of Charles Platkin, an expert at City University of New York School of Public Health who has been analysing airline food for nearly 15 years. He released an annual ranking last week of airline food.

"You are starting to see a major push forward," he said.

He found the biggest improvement at Delta Air Lines, which jumped from eighth out of 12 airlines in 2013 to first place this year, tied with Virgin America.

Delta introduced items from packaged food maker Luvo, including fruit and hard-boiled eggs for breakfast and vegetables and hummus wraps for lunch and dinner.

"When an airline like Delta makes a move like this, it's a really big move that is going to start a trend," he said.

Low-cost airlines such as Allegiant, Frontier and Spirit ranked at the bottom, with food choices so limited and unhealthful that Platkin advised fliers on all three carriers to bring their own food.

Platkin blasted Hawaiian Airlines for refusing to provide any nutritional information, forcing him to hire nutritionists to estimate the calorie count for the airline's meals and snacks.