Foul-smelling food in flight? Etiquette experts share tips for passengers

A plane passenger sniffed another traveler's foul-smelling food in a viral video he recently posted to social media.

Zavier Torrence, 25, told Fox News Digital that he was on the second leg of his trip from West Virginia to Tampa, Florida, about a week ago when someone sitting behind him decided to eat a tuna melt – “and it stank”. the whole plane.”

Torrence didn't say anything to the passenger who opted for the grilled fish sandwich, but he shared his thoughts with his TikTok followers.

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“Because why do we eat tuna melt on a flight?!?” Torrence wrote in the caption of his 5-second video, which showed him covering his nose to ward off the strong smell.

The video had more than 713,000 views as of Friday afternoon.

“I honestly didn’t expect the video to blow up the way it did,” Torrence said.

The popularity of his message may have something to do with the text he wrote on the video, which said: “I strongly believe that people who eat on flights should be incarcerated for 10 days.”

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Several commenters took umbrage with Torrence's message.

“I have a 10 hour flight coming up… Do you expect people not to eat on a flight?” one person wrote.

Others said they would eat on a plane, but not tuna melt.

On TikTok, Zavier Torrence (right) shared his reaction to the smell of food chosen by a fellow passenger on a plane. (iStock; Zavier Torrence)

“These are office rules,” another person wrote. “Only eat foods that are not flavored, so no fish, no fried foods, etc. How can we not know that?”

Diane Gottsman, etiquette expert and founder of the Protocol School of Texas in San Antonio, agreed with this sentiment.

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“You should always avoid eating foods that most people would find offensive, including tuna and hard-boiled eggs,” she told Fox News Digital.

Torrence said other passengers on the flight didn't seem bothered by the smell — either that or they chose to ignore it.

Torrence couldn't ignore the foul-smelling tuna melt a passenger ate on his plane. (Zavier Torrence)

Gottsman said asking a stranger not to eat a certain food on a plane carries a risk and could lead to a confrontation.

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Jacqueline Whitmore, a former flight attendant turned etiquette expert based in Florida, said asking someone about strong-smelling food “is generally OK,” as long as it's “done politely and respectfully.”

She told Fox News Digital: “The key is approach: being calm, kind and non-confrontational.”

It's “generally acceptable” to ask someone not to eat a tuna melt sandwich or other strong-smelling foods on a plane, an etiquette expert and former flight attendant told Fox News Digital. (iStock)

Although people have the right to eat whatever they want on a plane, it is “extremely considerate” for a passenger eating fish to ask other passengers nearby if they object, Whitmore said.

Gottsman, however, sees the issue a little differently.

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“It would be polite to ask, but many passengers will feel uncomfortable giving the person an honest answer,” she said. “The passenger already knows it’s a terrible smell and it’s going to affect people around him.”

Torrence clarified to Fox News Digital that he doesn't think people shouldn't eat on planes.

“If you’re hungry, eat,” he said.

According to Torrence, they should instead think about what they eat.

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“I mean, it’s tuna,” he said.

“At least have decency.”