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British Airways passenger shocked by ‘truly pathetic’ inflight vegetarian meal

‘I’m sick and tired of being treated like a rabbit with no appetite’

Helen Coffey
Wednesday 16 October 2019 14:22 BST
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British Airways passenger shocked by ‘truly pathetic’ inflight vegetarian meal

A woman on a British Airways flight was left disappointed when she was served plain tofu, plain rice and baby corn as her vegetarian meal.

Branding the offering “truly pathetic”, film director Carolyn Saunders tweeted a picture of the uninspiring-looking dish.

“British Airways this is the sad vegetarian meal you saw fit to give me on a long YVR-LHR flight,” she tweeted.

“Would you eat this? Would anyone? Plain tofu with plain rice and a baby corn cob from a tin?

“Why do you think vegetarians don’t like food? Please do better.”

Ms Saunders was flying on the red eye from Vancouver to London when she was given the disappointing meal.

She added that, although a flight attendant found her another meal after she complained, “this was truly pathetic and happens to vegetarians so often”.

“Please tell your caterers we are not rabbits. We like good hearty meals! And we like proper pudding, not just melon.”

Someone from British Airways’ social media team agreed that the meal looked “a little sad”, adding “Thanks for your feedback, Carolyn. We’ve passed this to our Catering teams for you.”

A British Airways spokesperson said: “We pride ourselves on the quality of the meals we offer on board, and have heavily invested in our catering, in all cabins.

“Customers can pre-order from 14 special meals, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, kosher, low calorie, and low salt options.

“We are in touch with our customer and are investigating with our supplier.”

It’s far from the first time a traveller has been left wanting when it comes to inflight dining.

In August, a British Airways passenger complained of being served an “absolutely disgusting” breakfast on a £1,200 long-haul flight.

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Sandra Arthur, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was travelling from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to London Heathrow when she was given the “soggy” bruschetta with egg and cheese.

Ms Arthur shared a picture of the unappetising meal on Facebook, which showed bits of egg scattered around some damp-looking bread, adding that many other passengers also complained.

“We could not eat this and when we complained we were offer a cold croissant,” she wrote.

“The flight attendant was extremely embarrassed but professional.”

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