The real reason why Vistara calls its vegetarian meals ‘Hindu’ and non-veg meals ‘Muslim’

Journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh recently called out Vistara for labelling all in-flight vegetarian meals as “Hindu meals” and chicken meals as “Muslim meals,” accusing the airline of communalising food.

“Who told you that all Hindus are vegetarian and all Muslims are non-vegetarian?” she asked the Indian full-service carrier. Tikoo accused Vistara of thrusting food choices on people as she asked: “Are you now going to communalise vegetables, chicken and passengers on a flight too?”

Tikoo said she was so shocked by Vistara’s pathetic behaviour that she booked both meal options. She shared a screenshot of her ticket from Srinagar to Jammu, which shows that she booked one “Hindu meal” and one “Moslem meal” for the short duration flight.

The explanation

Several social media users informed Tikoo that airline meal codes are not decided by Vistara, but are standardised across the industry. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) provides standardised meal codes to help airlines, catering services, and ground staff manage and communicate meal requirements efficiently and to ensure some uniformity across airlines.

“FYI in general aviation parlance, a Hindu Meal (HNML) is NOT necessarily a Veg meal - it could be a Non Veg meal that is not Halal,” wrote Sanjay Lazar, CEO of Avialaz Consultants. “Similarly a Moslem meal (MOML) is a Non Vegetarian meal that is HALAL,” he explained.

Aviation veteran Sanjiv Kapoor, the former CEO-designate of Jet Airways, also shared a similar explanation while acknowledging that the meal codes may be outdated.

“These are standard international meal codes used globally across GDS-based airlines, not just by Vistara. However I do think IATA or whoever needs to update / modernize these outdated and at times somewhat puzzling meal codes,” wrote Kapoor.

Vistara’s website does not mention Hindu or Muslim meals. Instead, its extensive list of vegetarian options includes the “Vegetarian Vegan Meal (VGML)” which does not contain animal products, animal by-products, eggs or any dairy products, Vegetarian Jain Meal (VJML) which has no animal products, animal by-products, any root, or bulbous vegetables, and Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal (VLML) which may contain eggs and dairy.