‘Upma, Poha, Daal chawal sounds healthy, does not mean...,’ Revant Himatsingka reviews food served at Indigo

One of the recent incidents between IndiGo Airlines and a health influencer named Revant Himatsingka, who goes by ‘foodpharmer’ online has created buzz on social media platforms.

Recently, Revant posted a video clip while traveling in IndiGo, claiming the pre-packaged meals served on their flights were very high in sodium. He specifically mentioned Maggi, Upma, Poha, and Daal Chawal have more sodium intake. According to the packaging Indigo’s Magic Upma has 50% more sodium than Maggi, whereas Poha has 83% more sodium than Maggi, and Daal Chawal is somewhere equal to Maggi. He further claimed that junk food pretending to be healthy, is even more dangerous than junk food. He also raised concerns about the health issues that can be triggered due to high intake of sodium, hypertension, heart issues and kidney issues are some of the examples.

Shocking video about the food served at Indigo airlines!

Most of us already know that Maggi is a high sodium food! What most of don’t know is that Indigo’s Magic Upma has 50% more sodium than Maggi, Indigo’s Poha has ~83% more sodium than Maggi, and Daal Chawal has as much… pic.twitter.com/mUyH3VkXnw

— Revant Himatsingka “Food Pharmer” (@foodpharmer2) April 17, 2024

In a string of tweets, Revant further said, “One of the reasons why we don't feel the taste of excess salt in airlines is because high altitudes reduce our taste bud sensitivity. This is also one of the reasons why most airlines add excess salt to our food.”

IndiGo responded to the video, stating that all their meals adhere to FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) guidelines and nutritional information is available for each item. As per sources, the airlines also claimed that Indigo serves food from reputed vendors and mentions all the ingredients as per guidelines. It also says that the preparation of pre-packaged food is done as traditional Indian recipes and prescribed salts are within the limits.

The post on social media has seen mixed reactions, some appreciated the YouTuber's effort, while one of the users asked him to talk more about the food served at Vande Bharat.

Appreciate the effort. Why making mountain out of molehill. How much salt is high enough and problematic.

Salt is more at high altitude for 2 primary reasons not many people know.

Besides no one forced people to eat in Indigo

— Ashu (@ashutoshkojha) April 17, 2024

Ye kha liya vande Bharat mein, batao pharmer bhai kitna damage hua hoga health ko pic.twitter.com/LLAb68gNWp

— Arpit Kushwaha (@Lawyerwhosquats) April 18, 2024