Delta is serving only pasta to thousands of international passengers after ‘spoiled’ food forces plane to divert

“Out of an abundance of caution, Delta teams proactively adjusted in-flight meal service on a number of international flights on Wednesday, July 3,” a Delta spokeswoman said in a statement to CNBC.

Delta has apologized to customers over a report of spoiled food in the main cabin on a flight from Detroit to Amsterdam.

“This is not the service Delta is known for and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay to their flights,” Delta said.

In an email to employees on Wednesday, Ash Docty, who leads in-flight service for Delta, said the airline was investigating the error and that “immediate corrective actions have been implemented to avoid a repeat.”

Do&Co, Delta’s catering company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“As a last line of defense, please inspect your plate before serving and do not serve any food that may contain contaminated materials,” Dahukti wrote, noting that food safety incidents on board are “extremely rare.”

The incident occurred during the peak summer travel season, when Delta and its rivals compete for passengers. Airlines serve thousands of meals to customers every day and such incidents are rare, said Henry Harteveldt, a travel consultant and founder of Atmosphere Research Group.

“Delta is taking prudent action. When you have a food issue, you don’t want anyone to get sick on the plane,” Harteveldt said. “Eating pasta alone is the safest and smartest option.”

The airline industry faces another challenge: a potential strike by workers at Jet Gourmet, a major in-flight catering company. Federal mediators released Jet Gourmet and its unions from mediation earlier this week, paving the way for a potential strike in late July.

“Gate Gourmet serves us at 19 local stations and we are reviewing strategies to minimize disruption to you and our customers should any outage occur,” Docty said in a memo to employees on Wednesday.