Airline's odd explanation for 'cockroach' find in passenger meal

The airline dismissed the unpleasant find in a passenger's meal. Photo / Twitter; manikul008

A passenger who claims to have found a 'cockroach' in his meal was left with a bad taste in his mouth after the airline tried to dismiss the object as sautéed ginger.

Nikul Solanki was flying with Air Vistara from Mumbai to Bangkok in August when he made an unpleasant discovery in his in-flight meal.

After taking photos of the dark unappetising object - which looked awfully like a cooked insect - he then shared them to social media, tagging the carrier.

"Small cockroach in air Vistara meal," he captioned the photo, taken October 14.

Small cockroach in air Vistara meal pic.twitter.com/SHxFxB4qWv

— NIKUL SOLANKI (@manikul008) October 14, 2022

The following day, the airline responded and said they would like to 'clear the air' regarding the unfortunate meal.

A spokesperson for the airline claimed that the meal had been recalled, sent to a laboratory and "thoroughly tested".

"The object in question was evaluated under a microscope and was found to be a piece of sautéed ginger."

Cockroach or ginger? The airline claims to have conduced a thorough examination of the in-flight meal. Photo / Twitter; manikul008

Responding to the public Twitter chain, the airline said it had already contacted the passenger via email but wanted to restate that "no foreign object/insect was found in the particular meal sample".

Solanki was not convinced without seeing the lab report himself.

Furthermore, he shared a letter which he claimed was from his solicitor, dated 12 September, which stated he would give the airline 30 days notice to respond or he would file a consumer case against them.

I also sent notice but not reply this Vistara airline pic.twitter.com/wHAVjiVSgh

— NIKUL SOLANKI (@manikul008) October 15, 2022

The airline was contacted for comment.

Earlier this year, a Japanese airline said it was adding insects to its meals on purpose.

Zipair of Tokyo has been offering passengers the option of meals containing insect protein, which have a fraction of the carbon footprint of a conventional airline meal.

Using Gryllus - a branded ground-insect meal - they have been replacing meat in some of their onboard dishes.

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