Why this airline offers veg food as 'Hindu Meal' and non-veg food as 'Muslim Meal'

While flying, have you ever noticed how your meal is coded on the air ticket? Well, most of us often ignore it, but recently, a journalist noticed and that led to a buzz all around the social media world. Scroll down to read the details.

She was flying from Srinagar to Jammu and that is when she noticed her Vistara ticket, which mentioned meals booked as Hindu Meal and Moslem Meal. Take a look at her post:


She captioned the X post, "Hello @airvistara , why the hell is vegetarian meal called “Hindu meal” and chicken meal called “Muslim meal” on your flights? Who told you that all Hindus are vegetarian and all Muslims are non-vegetarian? Why are you thrusting food choices on people? Who authorised you to do this? Are you now going to communalise vegetables, chicken and passengers on a flight too? I was so shocked by this pathetic behavior that I booked both meals to defy your order. @MoCA_GoI please inquire about this." The viral post has garnered 125.4k views till date.

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As per reports, airline meal codes are not decided by Vistara, but are standardised across the industry. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) provides standardised meal codes to help airlines, catering services, and ground staff manage and communicate meal requirements efficiently and to ensure uniformity across airlines.

In response to the viral post, Sanjay Lazar, the CEO of Avialaz said “FYI in general aviation parlance, a Hindu Meal (HNML) is NOT necessarily a Veg meal: it could be a Non Veg meal that is not Halal. Similarly, a Moslem meal (MOML) is a Non-Vegetarian meal that is HALAL.”

Also, aviation veteran Sanjiv Kapoor, the former CEO-designate of Jet Airways, shared a similar explanation while acknowledging that the meal codes may be outdated. He wrote, “These are standard international meal codes used globally across GDS-based airlines, not just by Vistara. However I do think IATA or whoever needs to update / modernize these outdated and at times somewhat puzzling meal codes.”

Vikram Sood, whose X bio reads formerly headed R&AW and currently Adviser, ORF, termed it as absurd and dangerous descriptions.



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Interestingly, Vistara's website does not mention Hindu or Muslim meals. Instead, its extensive list of vegetarian options includes the “Vegetarian Vegan Meal (VGML)” which does not contain animal products, animal by-products, eggs or any dairy products, Vegetarian Jain Meal (VJML) which has no animal products, animal by-products, any root, or bulbous vegetables, and Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal (VLML) which may contain eggs and dairy. As per the website, Dietary Vegetarian Meals are further classified. Diabetic Meal - DBML includes meal prepared for diabetic passengers requiring a nutritionally balanced meal low in sugar. Gluten Free Meal - GFML, this meal is prepared for passengers requiring a gluten friendly meal and it does not contain ingredients or food items with gluten. Low Calorie Meal - LCML refers to meal prepared for passengers with restrictive calorie intake. And Low Fat Meal - LFML refers to meal prepared for passengers with a diet low in fat.


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