Tomato Juice Hits the Spot
Tomato Juice Hits the Spot
Ever wondered why you ordered that Bloody Mary from in-flight service on your overseas flight last summer when, ordinarily, you never think to use tomato juice when fixing yourself a drink at home? Well, it appears that there is more to it than simple holiday euphoria and leaving behind the daily grind for two weeks. German researchers from Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics have found that our taste for tomato juice is stimulated when flying at altitude and especially on long-haul flights.
In a test recreating cabin conditions at cruising altitude, German volunteers were asked to make drinks and meals selections which resulted in an overwhelming and constant thirst for tomato juice. While not generally people’s first choice of a drink, this was all the more surprising since, in Germany, apple and orange juice are firm favourites.
It seems altitude and reduced cabin pressure conditions enhance human taste receptors for salt, sugar and tomato flavours, making tomato juice more appealing than other refreshments served. The same test conducted at ground level showed a much reduced desire for the product. As concerns food, the spicier the better was the general conclusion.
Lufthansa, which commissioned the research, hopes to integrate the findings into their in-flight catering menus and supply chains to ensure that you are not disappointed when you feel the need for a thirst quenching tomato juice on your next long-haul flight to the sun.
Do you drink tomato juice when flying?
Comments
Good point! Although, I must admit I enjoy a bloody mary or two at home as well every once in a while, but that must be because I live up on a mountain!
Posted by Paula Kultanen Ribas on 03/12 at 05:31 PM
It all makes sence now how good a Bloody Mary is on a hang over its because its so good for us
Posted by Alex Martin on 03/12 at 05:47 PM
I’ve always said that Tomato juice was a drink for high flyers!
Posted by Rob Hale on 03/15 at 08:47 AM
Very nice article. I always wondered why someone could drink tomato juice in an airplane. Although I am German (as are the volunteers of the study)I never went that far.
Maybe my taste buds are somewhat different….
Posted by Mario Lorenz on 03/18 at 10:17 AM
Tomato juices are great travel drinks. Taste great and high nutrtional factor. Best Bloody Mary I have ever had was in the Latin Quarter in Paris.
Posted by gwen young on 03/29 at 05:44 PM
Strange you should mention this. On a flight to Los Angeles in the year 2002. I took a notion to drink Bloody Mary’s..I had them often on the whole journey from London. Then at the Crown Plaza in L.A where I was staying I was ordering Bloody Mary’s at the bar !
A.K
Posted by Alex Kerr on 05/25 at 06:53 PM
I have only been in a flight for one time, when I was six years old, but I really watched this phenomenon!
I usually drink tomato-juice very often, so I can´t say,that I would drink it especially in a flight. I like this taste, but sometimes it tastes very idustrially :(
When I am going to fly for the next time, I will pay attention on it!
P.s.: I think it´s very unpractical to drink tomato juice in a flight, because of the turmoils in the air—> if the flight is getting shaked, you´ll have the whole juice on your trousers 
Posted by Sina Zimmer on 06/14 at 08:54 AM
Wholemeal pizza with olives, cherry tomatoes and…
Clifford A. Wright - Maestro Food Writer
As a one-time cook it’s always a pleasure to sit down and share a few tall tales and a glass…
Brilliant ! I’ve observed this for years and planned to commission research on it (when I get round to it) and it seems as though the fact is there but still research needs to be done which I am sure will show that the body knows that tomato juice is good for you !
Posted by Duncan Blake on 03/12 at 06:36 AM