Flight attendants warn. Hot beverages on planes may put your health at risk
12:57 AM EST, January 16, 2024
This suggestion comes straight from the cabin crew, making it worth considering. Ex-flight attendant Kat Kamalani underlines that flight crew members generally avoid drinking hot beverages during a flight.
"Rule number one, never drink any fluid that isn't in a can or a bottle," Kamalani states in her video post.
In addition, an attendant named CiCi shared some things she has refrained from since joining the flight crew. One of which is sipping hot coffee or any other hot liquids prepared using the onboard coffee machine.
CiCi confessed to indulging in the past, but only in moments of "desperation".
However, the issue isn't with the tea bags or coffee beans but rather the water used to concoct these hot beverages.
The onboard water has failed multiple tests
As reported in 2013 by NBC 5, the water utilized to prepare inflight beverages comes from a faucet connected to a water tank, not from a bottle.
Test results from the Environmental Protection Agency showed that water on commercial flights contained harmful bacteria.
"These water tanks are never cleaned and are repugnant. Ask any flight attendant, and they'll inform you that we seldom, very seldom, drink coffee or tea. Coffee machines are rarely cleaned unless they break," Kamalani elaborated in her video.
Furthermore, a 2019 study on onboard water quality was carried out by the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center at the City University of New York and DietDetective.com.
The study revealed that many airlines likely supplied their passengers with substandard water.
The study assessed and evaluated 11 major international airlines and 12 regional airlines from the United States, investigating the quality of their drinking water. The findings illustrated that seven international and nearly all regional airlines offered poor-quality water.
