Malaysia Airlines posted an announcement warning passengers to not bring any self-heating meals on flights due to safety concerns. According to the airline, the meals are no longer allowed in either checked or cabin baggage by passengers or crew.
If you’re not familiar with what self-heating meals are, they’re… self-heating meals. Using “active” self-heating packaging, the meal packs have the ability to heat food contents without external heat sources or power. Instead, they use special “self-heating” packets that result in an exothermic reaction once it hydrates (usually, you’d have to dump a bit of water on the packet). You could check out how it works here.
I’ve come across a few self-heating hot pot or bak kut teh meals that are readily available, but I’ve never tried them myself. I’m also pretty surprised that Malaysia Airlines had to put up an announcement asking us to not bring these ready-to-eat meals onboard—passengers must have brought them often enough for them to come out with a statement.
“Self Heating Meals or Ready to Eat Meals include heat packs or self-heating packs such as quick and easy hot pot, rice, and drinks. These packs contain dangerous substances such as magnesium powder, iron powder, self-burning solid carbon or corrosive calcium oxide that release flammable gas on contact with water,” explained Malaysia Airlines in their statement.
I don’t know how bringing self-heating meals on a plane became a thing in the first place, but it might be to lessen the cost of travel if it means getting a nice, warm meal at a fraction of a cost of an airplane meal. But alas, these self-heating packs can be dangerous—and we’d rather you keep safe on a plane than save a few bucks on some food during your journey.
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