British Airways has been slow rolling premium cabin service improvements. They’re moving Heathrow outbound catering to Do & Co in 2020, but I believe they’ve already been catering the New York JFK and Chicago flights.
Dr. Michael Brown shared his Club World menu. He traveled Mumbai – London Heathrow – Chicago O’Hare and on the Chicago-bound segment one of his choices was Home Counties venison stew with “rosemary dumplings, roasted chestnuts, wilted kale.”
Even though their caterer has taken ‘the greatest care’ in preparing the dish, the menu warns “there is a very small risk of bullet fragments that could be found in the meal.”
You've got to be kidding me. From the British Airways in-flight menu from London to Chicago. pic.twitter.com/lfecoXAllk
— Dr. Michael L. Brown (@DrMichaelLBrown) December 9, 2018
A passenger once found a needle in a Delta turkey sandwich. A lizard was found in an Air India meal. And have you seen the lobster roll American served to Lucky from One Mile at a Time?
These are mistakes though, not conscious catering decisions! It may just be a British Airways attempt at offering local and seasonal items unique to the Chicago market.
Of course the meal has to be killed (PETA loves this) but I don’t recall ever seeing this disclosure in an airline menu before. Maybe I’ve just missed it?
This is a pretty standard note for venison meals. I’ve seen this at much fancier restaurants than an in-cabin meal; that’s how the venison is acquired.
What’s surprising is that this is a post! I’m all about having some of these tabloid type posts to keep things interesting, but this is making a big deal out of nothing.
All wild game has the risk of shattered shot pellets in it. It should go without saying in the UK where people know that, but I guess BA feels the need to spell it out (as UK supermarkets do on their packaging).
Fresh game frequently carries this warning, it often can contain shot still, so this is not crazy at all. In fact, it generally implies the meat is freshly shot (therefore actually wild, not farmed) and of good quality. Impressed BA serving fresh seasonal venison in business class.
Venison is deer. Given how they are killed, it’s not a shock that there’s a small chance of bullet fragments in it.
I for one had no idea! Thanks for sharing Gary…at first I thought it was some kind of weird mistake, but it looks like it’s not, based on other comments…who knew!
How is this even a story? I’d much rather have the chance of shot in my meat rather than using a more ‘farmed’ animal.
Thank You British Airways I think I’m ready to be a vegetarian
Hope your business class meals can get through the metal detector
Now god forbid they do a nice poultry or pasta dish and get it right no they have to try
and do venison in the air?Whats next wild pheasant?
They can’t even prepare a sandwich properly
This is sad as it is hilarious that BA is so pathetic
Can they ever come out with something actually premium?
Even Alaska Airlines had better food on my last flight in Domestic First class transcon
Butternut Squash soup outstanding pasta beautiful salad and bottled balsamic dressing
a premium Ice cream from Portland
I’d risk it. Hard to believe that in-flight catering on BA could result in actually tasty venison though.
1) Doesn’t this just mean that it’s wild game? Surprised somebody that purports to care about food as much as you wouldn’t know this?
2) Your Chicago comment/link is, at best, in bad taste.
The only scandal here is that it’s highly unlikely that a caterer is depending on wild game as a source. So there’s a good chance that, in fact, there’s no chance of bullet fragments in the stew and that they’re just saying this to make the meal more appealing.
In New Jersey, our venison contains warnings that it may contain fragments of car bumper and windshield… 🙂
@Joe said “that’s how the venison is acquired.”
not always true. here in BC, Canada, it is illegal to sell hunted game commercially. All game that is sold commercially is farmed.
@NB said: “All wild game has the risk of shattered shot pellets in it.”
I’ve never heard of hunting deer with a shotgun. Here it is done with a rifle. Rifles shoot bullets, not “shot.” Shotguns are used for fowl and hares/rabbits. A bullet can shatter and leave fragments which is what BA is warning about.
Skip the venison and go directly to the crunchy frog chocolate. It was lightly killed in the very British way.
Common in game.
@gary – How is it that I am the first to recognize your humor!!! I literally laughed out loud at the chicago reference! Fine work!
That bullets are being served on a flight to Chicago was, indeed, the entire point of this post. Sorry that my sense of humor, such as it is, doesn’t always translate…
Seriously, Gary? This is Daily Mail or The Sun material (in fact those are the only two mainstream outlets that carry this story).
All game dishes carry this risk, it’s just the consequence of these animals being hunted – they are not reared and then slaughtered, at least not in Europe. And it is reasonable for it to be disclosed (in fact, it has to be) in all restaurants that offer game dishes. The good doctor (and, apparently, Gary…) may not be travelled or learned enough to know that, but it’s far from shocking.
They, as usual, omitted the extra charge for the bullets.
Found a nice little bullet fragment in the venison my pal the Italian doctor gave me last year from the big old buck he shot. That’s why they call it buckshot, innit?
“And it is reasonable for it to be disclosed (in fact, it has to be) in all restaurants that offer game dishes. The good doctor (and, apparently, Gary…) may not be travelled or learned enough to know that, but it’s far from shocking.”
And somebody tried to swipe a mace from Parliament during the latest four-dimensional chess match known as Brexit.
You lot have clearly gone mad.