Food Changes on El Al

A few months ago, I was shocked to hear that even on coast to coast flights in the United States there aren't proper kosher meals available.  I was helping a friend to figure out what to eat on that long leg to her flight from Israel to California.  For people like me who live on a reduced carbohydrate diet, it's a real problem.  According to American Law, it's forbidden to bring fruit and nuts from a foreign country into the states, and security also bans yogurt.

I didn't expect any changes when I boarded my after midnight flight to New York a couple of weeks ago, but I was unpleasantly surprised by the sandwiches offered for late dinner.  I explained to the stewardess that I only ate low carb.  Fortunately, she found me this fruit meal.  It was fine for me, but diabetics wouldn't have had a good time with it.

I had more fruit and nuts packed with me for the long night's flight and finished it all before we landed.  Breakfast was a regular meal, but they no longer serve lox with the bagels, nor was there a choice of main courses.


On my return flight, I ordered a low sodium meal for my father which wasn't stocked.  And afraid of another sandwich disaster, I tried to order a low starch meal for myself, but it wasn't on the menu.  I could have had a fruit meal, but then they would have brought me a fruit breakfast which I didn't want.  The dinner, which was served around nine, since our flight was 7:55pm, was a regular airline dinner.  We had a choice between pasta and rice, each with some animal protein and minimal salad.

Fearing another sandwich meal and considering that even after eight is late for me and my father to have dinner, I packed us meals to eat in the airport before boarding the plane.  We had roasted vegetables, salad and canned salmon.

Sticking to a weight loss diet when traveling requires planning.  You should never expect, take for granted, that your type of diet food will be easily available.  If you want to continue losing weight when traveling, you'll have to prepare food and bring it along.  You shouldn't be shy about asking for alternative meals.  Of course, the same goes for diabetics, food allergies and medical needs.