The Common Snack Flight Attendants Hate Seeing People Eat On A Plane

We get it: Airplane food isn't always the most appetizing or appealing. That microwaved chicken parmesan or vegetable lasagna with a side of soggy green beans and a sugar-dense brownie just doesn't sit very well in your stomach after eight hours at 30,000 feet. That's why many passengers these days are bringing their own meals and snacks aboard their flights. If you didn't know you were allowed to do this, behold! As long as your meals aren't liquid-based (like soup or even peanut butter), you can bring any food you want past security and onto your flight. However, not all snacks are created equal, and the cabin crew on your flight is not very happy when they realize passengers are armed and ready with a bag of sunflower seeds.

Of course, sunflower seeds are a healthy snack, but if they're not shelled, they can cause a serious headache for your cabin crew. Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco posted to his official Facebook page a photo of a woman eating unshelled sunflower seeds on an airplane — and throwing the shells on the ground in front of her. Cabin crew on the A Fly Guys Lounge Facebook page posted the aftermath of a passenger's sunflower seed feast — with seeds strewn everywhere. The caption read, "sunflower seeds should be banned from planes!!!!" It's not just the mess that sunflower shells cause, however. If you don't want to raise the ire of your flight attendant, and your fellow passengers, here's why you shouldn't bring sunflower seeds on your next flight. 

Fellow flight attendants reacted to A Fly Guys Lounge sunflower shell fiasco post, writing in the comments section that airlines should ban for life these disrespectful passengers, not the sunflower seeds. "The passenger is the one that should have to clean, pay or be banned," one commenter wrote, while another said, "People that think it's ok to just throw it on the ground should be banned." However, it's not the just the sunflower shell mess that makes the snack a problem. There's also the potential health risk for fellow passengers.

Occasionally, you might hear your cabin crew announce that the flight is "nut free" because a fellow passenger onboard has reported a nut or seed allergy. People with this allergy can go into anaphylactic shock, which includes difficulty breathing, nausea, low blood pressure, and in severe cases, death. So while you may be enjoying your little baggie of sunflower seeds, there are around 100 other people on the flight who might react severely to your case of the munchies. Flight attendants are thus the ones who have to mitigate this life-threatening scenario, making their jobs even harder. So while you might love the crunch of your sunflower seeds, it's probably best to leave them at home and pack apple slices, carrots, celery, or pretzels instead!