There are many things I try very hard to not think about when traveling, like the loud coitus of the people in the hotel room next to me, or just how dirty hotel beds are.
The same is true of airplane food, when you think of the germ-filled environment in which it’s served, and the mass-scale on which it’s produced. While I’ve visited some airline catering facilities over the years and have been very impressed, it doesn’t change the very nature of what they’re doing. On the production side I suppose it’s no different than any other mass produced food you’d find in a supermarket.
Fortunately I’ve never had any terrible experiences, or else I might be scarred forever. However, there’s a story going viral which is going to make me examine my future inflight meals more closely, no matter how irrational my “fear” is.
A passenger on an AirAsia flight found a dead lizard in his purchased inflight meal.
Here’s a picture, per the “Oh! Media” Facebook page:
And in case you missed it in the above picture, here’s a close-up:
Per FMT News:
“When I was eating, I found a lizard in my food. I informed the steward and he wanted my food container to replace it.
“I refused. When I landed at the Kuching International Airport, I went straight to the police station to make a report.”
Awang Waseem said the police report was intended as a precautionary measure for his own safety.
I’m not sure I understand the concept of filing a police report in this instance? Presumably it was intended to document the situation, though I’m not sure what purpose it serves beyond that? I’d assume a picture would serve the same purpose.
Here’s an AirAsia promotional video about their inflight catering (lizard not pictured):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN2yjiL4w10
Even if subconscious, you can bet I’ll be inspecting my next inflight meal a bit more closely after seeing this…
(Tip of the hat to shankar)
@dt Those were my exact thoughts even before I read your post. Having been born in that country, lived in that particular area for a good while (and familiar with all the shady dealings) I would have hedged my bets that it was a set up. Have known some people personally who resort to this and also known victims too, nothing held back in Asia. Glad to have moved out of there jeez
Actually, this case is quite fishy. The (apparent) pilot of the flight has come up to refute some of the points. There is a question of what a Pakistani foreigner was doing living in Felda (basically a local collective farm) and going all the way to a pretty remote area of Kuching (which is across the South China Sea). As a foreigner he would have required quite a long time at immigration although not impossible....
Actually, this case is quite fishy. The (apparent) pilot of the flight has come up to refute some of the points. There is a question of what a Pakistani foreigner was doing living in Felda (basically a local collective farm) and going all the way to a pretty remote area of Kuching (which is across the South China Sea). As a foreigner he would have required quite a long time at immigration although not impossible. And the police report was made in the local language, which presumably most foreigners would not speak (and the police report indicates that no translator was present). There are mumblings it could be a business rivalry set up. Anyway.....
https://www.facebook.com/thiru.j.karasu/posts/1071289932958160
Imagine the shrieks of horror from the westerner's if they served "frog on a stick" as an appetizer?
Ok let me explain to you why the guy made a police report.. all Malaysians and Singaporeans are insane... they make police reports on the same concept as you complain and whine to your mother.. they have shit for brains.. I was born in this country (i'm canadian) I should know haha so they would make police reports for the weirdest things...... because they see it as the only way to have someone verify and record their statements...
@Jim, not all food in Southeast Asia consists of bugs, mystery meat or fertilised duck eggs. Southeast Asia is a food-lovers haven.
Did Air Asia charge extra for that?
Did Air Asia charge extra for that lizard?
Looks more like ikan bilis (toasted fish fry) which typically comes with nasi lemak, than a lizard.
Once found a dead cockroach inside the sauce of food I bought, never returned to the place again.
Oh man, too eerie. I was supposed to take that air Asia flight to kuching just 2 days later, and probably would have gotten the nasi lemak too. I guess it's good that shady air asia ended up canceling two of my flights...
Did he specifically order a vegetarian meal?
@Karen
Well some of us do enjoy fish eyes (though probably not the ones came with pre-packaged airasia meals).
@Karen:
Some people actually like eating fish eyes. I find them repulsive, but to each their own.
@Lucky:
Try not to think about all the dead insects, amphibians, and rodents that might appear in your off-plane food.
At least the lizard was big enough to pick out and discard, unlike the many fish eyes I've found in Air Asia food. (And yes, they did consider that part of the recipe.)
Lizard must taste incredibly bad because my cat will aggressively hunt them, torture them, dismember them but never, ever eat them.....
Who could be satisfied with such a small serving of lizard?
Sanitation and food safety are certainly important, but I'm more concerned about an industrialized food production system that relies on antibiotics to keep sick animals alive long enough to make it to slaughter, and which strips the nutrients out of food through over-processing.
I imagine that he made the police report so that there would be documentation in the event he got sick. Maybe he is seeking some payback as well.
I ate a simple lettuce salad at a well known airport hotel in FRA and there was a live slug in it. I eat slalad very carefully since then.
What a wuss lol if I was the cop I'd look at the tard wasting my time to file a report about a lizard in his damn airplane meal. He must be real fun at a party.
That same person was probably headed somewhere in Southeast Asia where they serve fried bugs, fertilized duck eggs, and mystery meat. They should be happy it was at least easily identifiable as a lizard. They never heard of lizard soup?!
don't they charge extra for that on AirAsia ?
I once found a roach leg in a pre-packaged salad - fortunately, early on, so no question of having eaten any of it. It was a long time before I could consider eating packaged salad again, but I eventually got over it.
Also :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/-Air-India-plane-grounded-after-mouse-spotted/articleshow/51678464.cms
Variety is the spice of life?
Looks rotten enough to resemble a piece of intentional protein :) I would have probably missed it and ate it, unless it tasted real bad
Shouldn't be too hard to spot. I assume in Emirates F they'd plate the lizard for you.
We all really don't want to know what we've ingested during our lifetimes. Things happen and stuff gets into food once in a while. It's best not to think about it. This person sounds a little uppity if they filed a police report.
Protein!