Do they do anything special to make sure packaged food on airliners doesn't expand when the airliner is at cruising altitude?

Posted by supinator1@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 9 comments

On an Air India flight in 2002, I noticed the in flight snacks bags were fully inflated and bulging when I flight, likely because they were packaged with air at sea level pressure. I haven't seen this happen with peanuts or other snacks on other airlines.

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9 Comments

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EmbarrassedTruth1337@reddit

I see it all the time when I fly.

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richardelmore@reddit

First time we traveled with our 8-month-old son we prepared baby bottles full of water for him to drink on the flight (this was before the liquid bans). About an hour into the flight, he started to fuss so my wife pulled the cap off one of the bottles and it squirted the person next to her in the face. It was not much water, and he took it in good nature, but it was a tad embarrassing.

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juanmlm@reddit

At least it wasn’t milk.

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49thDipper@reddit

You aren’t at the outside atmospheric pressure. If you were you’d be breathing through an oxygen mask or be unconscious. You are at 8000 feet or less in there. I live above 5000 feet. I have friends at 10,000 feet. The only thing here that’s built for elevation are windows. Multipane windows are elevation rated. Also don’t bring a barometer here from the coast if you like it. Nobody does any weird food packaging for us.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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jcla@reddit

They don't do anything special. Different products will react differently. For example, items that can get crushed typically have a volume of air in the packaging to protect them. This air volume reacts to the changing air pressure in the cabin, causing bags of chips/crisps, etc. to inflate. Peanuts, on the other hand, don't require air in the packaging for protection so you don't see the same effect. Carbonated beverages will get foamier and go flat quicker at altitude due to the decreased pressure. You can have fun with air pressure by tightly closing the lid on an empty water bottle at altitude and watch it get mildly crushed by the change in air pressure as you descend for landing.

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Codebender@reddit

The cabin pressurizes to 8,000 feet equivalent, and packaging is designed to handle at least that much. Some large population centers are above that.

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Independent-Reveal86@reddit

Nothing special is done.