Air India's caterer apologizes for sharp object found in passenger's food

New Delhi, June 17: After Air India confirmed the presence of a blade-like metal object in a passenger’s meal on a US-bound flight, TajSATS Air Catering Limited issued an apology on Monday for the incident.

Sources said, the inflight caterer emphasized their commitment to the highest standards of food safety. "We have strengthened our processes of comprehensive inspection and preventive maintenance of all our production equipment," a TajSATS spokesperson stated.

Earlier, Air India publicly addressed the ordeal of passenger Mathures Paul, who discovered a sharp metal object in his fig chaat on Flight 175 from Bengaluru to San Francisco on June 9. Paul posted about his experience on social media platform X on June 10, including a picture of the meal with the metal piece visible.

"Air India food can cut like a knife. Hiding in its roasted sweet potato and fig chaat was a metal piece that looked like a blade. I got a feel of it only after chewing the grub for a few seconds," Paul wrote. Thankfully, he was not harmed but criticized Air India for the delay in their response.

Paul expressed relief that he did not ingest the object, but voiced his concern that it could have happened to any passenger. He lamented the week-long delay for Air India to publicly acknowledge the incident.

Air India confirmed that "a foreign object was found in the meal of a guest aboard one of our flights." Following an investigation, the airline identified the object as part of a vegetable processing machine used by their catering partner. An Air India spokesperson stated that the airline is working with its caterers to implement stricter checks and preventive measures to avoid recurrence.

According to Paul, the stewardess on the flight briefly apologized and offered him a bowl of chickpeas as a replacement. Later, the airline offered him a business class trip as compensation, which Paul declined, calling it a bribe.

Air India reiterated their apology in a statement, confirming they have engaged with the affected customer to address his concerns.

This incident follows other recent complaints about Air India's inflight catering and service quality, including allegations of uncooked food and unsatisfactory meal orders.