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You're thinking that you haven’t seen any bugs on board. You may spray before leaving a country, or you may even be required to decontaminate your aircraft of as you enter or leave a zone with infestation regulations. Of all the unwanted travelers who hitch a ride on board your aircraft, I thought maybe I would just discuss the fruit fly. These tiny little flies (or bugs, whichever name you prefer) are correctly known as Drosophila Melanogaster. Let me introduce you.
Although you keep your aircraft spotless, the fruit fly may join your flight without you even being aware of its presence. To live the “good life” it only need a moist area of fermenting stuff. That stuff can be beautifully ripened fruits presented in a fruit basket, or vegetables - something simple like tomatoes you may want to slice fresh in flight. If you attended the NBAA Flight Attendant/Flight Technician conference, you heard about the Mangosteen fruit which used to be outlawed from entering the US because of the fruit fly that lived under the hard crusty leaves at the stem end. They love the organic matter that remains in your cabin drains; they love juices or food residue that might have spilled out of the trash liner edges or the bottom of the can; they love old catering boxes and even empty bottles and beverage cans - not to mention trash bags, cleaning cloths and mops.
Those of you who kindly share your leftover catering with line service may also be sharing fruit fly larvae. You can swallow fruit flies; they won’t grow in your belly; in fact I'll go so far as to say that your gastric juices will take care of that problem. But, you may feel ill just at the thought of it. As a precaution, place all loose food scraps in a plastic zip bag and then place in the trash . . . especially for those longer flights. Fruit flies follow fermenting fruit Finding a fruit fly may not be a result of something you did or didn’t do. They may have hitched an unsuspecting ride into your aircraft on fruits or vegetables you load from the grocery or market. You purchase a box of berries, they are beautiful, although maybe one looks a bit overripe. Guess who's already found that beginning of the fermenting fruit? Can you see the fly and even larvae on the raspberries? Hint…The arrows point to the berries in question. Fruit flies lay eggs on the skin of very ripe or fermenting fruit. Those bananas you brought on board that are ripening for a great loaf of banana bread or a smoothie may already harbor a new generation of fruit fly larvae and you can’t even see them.. Unrefrigerated fruit, whether it’s on a display tray, in a basket or still on the vine in your garden, may be attracting fruit flies. If its only one, how can this aircraft ever become infested?
Trivia tidbit: Fruit flies are drawn to fruit because its contains sugar. They love anything with sugar. As sugar ferments, it begins to turn into alcohol, which fruit flies love. Un-rinsed soda cans, beer bottles, and oh yes…wine! How can you get sick from an itty-bitty fruit fly? The main risk they pose for humans is exposure to the diseases and bacteria the flies spread by moving throughout the environment. Fruit flies make an occasional stops checking out any goodies on plates, cutlery, and drinking glasses, so when you eat or drink from these utensils, you’re exposed to the same bacteria the fruit fly has picked up visiting these sites. This is referred to as Cross contamination. I read a recent CDC report that: “Approximately 48 million people a year get sick as a result of foodborne illness. Due to the overwhelming increase of large-scale food recalls, research has determined that fruit flies are a significant vector of Escherichia coli (E.coli), a dangerous food-borne health hazard to humans in the developed and undeveloped world.” I am the proactive type, so I suggest that this is a time to err on the side of caution.
Just in case you have taken all of these precautions to prevent fruit flies from enjoying a lovely private jet flight across the pond with you, here is one sure fire way to lure them all to a perfect meal and then you will be able to remove them upon landing. Make a super easy vinegar trap Fruit flies love vinegar . . . especially a wine vinegar. Pour some vinegar into a container - just a bit of it. Then take a small plastic bag that will fit over the top of that container and securley fasten the bag to the container. Next take a knife or small scissor and cut a very small hole in the center of the bag. With your fingers, push the bag into the container of vinegar - but without the bag touching the fluid. Although fruit flies have an incredible sense of smell, they are truly stupid. Have you heard the old saying, he can’t find his way out of a paper bag? Well, those poor fruit flies will not be able to find their way out of the container of vinegar through the small hole you created.
Let me introduce myself . . . My name is Paula Kraft and I am founder and President of Tastefully Yours Catering, an aviation specific caterer, located in Atlanta, Georgia for over 35 years.
Currently I am an active member of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee Advisory Board and the NBAA International Flight Attendant Committee, Women in Corporate Aviation, Women in Aviation International, National Association of Catering Executives, International Flight Catering Association, the International Food Service Association and the International Caterer’s Association. I have coordinated training programs and clinics for NBAA and EBAA conference attendees for over 10 years, created mentoring programs for caterers and flight attendants to broaden their aviation culinary skills, and to assist them in adapting to the unique challenges and constraints found in catering for general aviation. I recognize the need for training and have worked closely with flight departments, flight crews, schedulers and customer service reps at the FBOs to ensure that catering specific training provides information and skills necessary to reduce risk while assisting them in their job duties that include safe food handling, catering security, accurate transmission of food orders, and safe food production, packaging and delivery. I fell into aviation catering quite by accident. I was the in-house caterer and bakery supplier for Macy’s department stores in Atlanta when catering was ordered for a Macy’s customer which was soon to change my life. After the client enjoyed the catering provided, I was summoned to the client’s corporate office to provide several of the items delivered through Macy’s to the executive dining room. Within a week, I was providing food for the flight department and my first order was for the President of a foreign country (as I was too be told soon after). So, here I am, some 35 years later, still loving every minute of every day in aviation catering.
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