Revant Himatsingka, popularly known as Food Pharmer, has become a household name now. Himatsingka has been reviewing packaged food products and increasing awareness about food labels. In his latest video, the Food Pharmer reviewed the food served on IndiGo. According to his video, certain pre-packaged meals served by IndiGo on flights contain “high sodium”.
Himatsingka said that although upma, poha and dal chawal served on the flight “sound healthy”, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are “healthy”. The video has sparked a debate on social media and even prompted the airline to respond.
In a statement shared over WhatsApp with Financial Express.com, Indigo claimed that “fresh and pre-packaged food only from the most reputed vendors.”
“All food served on board IndiGo flights carries details on ingredients and nutritional information as per FSSAI norms. Passengers have the choice of choosing from freshly prepared pre-booked meals or purchase pre-packaged food products on board. The preparation of some pre-packaged products is done as per traditional Indian recipes and the salt content is well within prescribed norms. The information printed on the package acts as an advisory for passengers to estimate their nutritional intake and consume as per their discretion. We welcome all feedback to improve our services in our mission to provide an affordable, on-time and hassle free flying experience for our customers,” the company said in its statement.
On X (erstwhile Twitter), the video has gained over 1 million views and it has led to a discussion as some of the X user claim that “no one forced people to eat in Indigo”.
In the video, Himatsingka said that he ordered all the ready-to-eat available on the IndiGo flight. He compared their sodium content with the amount of sodium present in Maggi. He found that the upma, poha and dal chawal served on the flight had more sodium than that of Maggi.
“Most of us already know that Maggi is a high-sodium food! What most 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 sodium as Maggi,” wrote Himatsingka while sharing a video on X.
He added that “junk food pretending to be healthy is even more dangerous than junk food”.
He also explained that “Indians already consume too much sodium and consuming excess sodium on a regular basis raises our blood pressure and can result in hypertension, heart issues and kidney issues.”
He replied to his own post and claimed, “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.”
Revant Himatsingka has 88.8k followers on X and 2 million followers on Instagram. In April last year, the Food Pharmer went viral after reviewing the sugar content in Cadbury’s Bournvita, thereby forcing the company to reduce added sugar.
