Airline claims ‘cockroach’ found in inflight meal was actually ‘sauteed ginger’

‘The object in question was evaluated under a microscope,’ says Air Vistara

A picture of the alleged cockroach found in an inflight meal (Twitter/@manikul008)

An airline has claimed that what a passenger thought was a cockroach in one of its inflight meals was actually a “piece of sautéed ginger”.

Traveller Nikul Solanki took a picture of the debated find on his flight from Mumbai to Bangkok on 31 August, sharing it to social media on 14 October.

Tweeting a photo of an inflight meal and a zoomed-in shot of what looks like some kind of bug in the rice dish, he posted it with the caption, “Small cockroach in air Vistara meal”.

But the carrier disagreed with his assessment, saying the meal had been analysed in a lab.

Mr Solanki shared the airline’s response: “We’d like to clear the air regarding the meal that was served to you on your flight with us dated 31 August from Mumbai to Bangkok.

“The sample was sent to the laboratory and thoroughly tested. Based on the reports, we can confirm that no foreign object/insect was found in the particular meal sample.

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

The message finished: “We at Vistara leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the highest standards of safety and services are upheld.”

An unconvinced Mr Solanki demanded proof, commenting: “Airlines write without evidence please attach original lab report ginger or cockroach”.

A Vistara spokesperson told The Independent: “We came across a tweet by a passenger complaining about a meal served to him on his Vistara flight dated 31 August 2022 from Mumbai to Bangkok.

“The meal sample was sent to the laboratory and thoroughly checked under digital stereo microscope.

“Based on the reports, we confirm that no foreign object / insect was found in it. In fact, the object in question was found to be a piece of sautéed ginger.

“We had already shared these findings with the customer via email on 14 September 2022.

“We, at Vistara, lay utmost importance to maintaining stringent standards of safety and all our processes are aligned towards the same.” 

It’s not the first time a passenger has complained of finding something unsavoury in their inflight meal.

In 2019, a passenger on a Mumbai-bound flight from Bhopal discovered a large cockroach in his breakfast on board an Air India flight.

“I informed the Air India crew, but they ignored me,” Rohit Raj Singh Chauhan told The Times of India. “Since the crew members were not listening, I returned it to them.

“I even objected to their serving food to others, but to no avail.”

The airline subsequently issued an apology, saying in a statement: “We sincerely apologise for the incident where our valued passenger had a disappointing experience with the meal served on board our Bhopal-Mumbai flight.

“Air India always endeavours to ensure our passengers enjoy our services. We have taken serious note of the incident and immediately issued a strong notice to the caterer concerned.

“Air India has a zero tolerance policy in this respect and have initiated corrective action internally.”