Delta changes up in-flight snacks

Kind bars will be among the new snack lineup on Delta flights. Source: Delta Air Lines

Kind bars will be among the new snack lineup on Delta flights. Source: Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is again changing up its in-flight snacks, adding almonds, pretzel sticks and coconut granola bars to the choices starting in June.

Those will be the choices in addition to Biscoff cookies, a traditional, long-standing snack on Delta flights.

But the three new options -- Squirrel brand almonds, Pretzel Perfection olive oil and sea salt pretzels and KIND oats and honey bars with toasted coconut -- are gluten-free and cater to "health-conscious customers and those with dietary restrictions," according to Delta.

Delta's new snacks include almonds, as well as olive oil and sea salt pretzels. Source: Delta Air Lines

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Notably missing from the list are peanuts, which had long been a snack choice on Delta flights, serving as a nod to its home state's peanut-growing heritage.

For years, Delta passengers could depend on a steady diet of peanuts, pretzels or Biscoff as the snack choices on flights. But peanuts are not necessarily gone forever.

The airline six months ago announced upgraded snacks with yogurt bars, honey roasted peanuts, Snyder's pretzels and Biscoff cookies, and said it would rotate its food and beverage offerings "to increase choice and variety for even the most seasoned travelers."

Neither regular peanuts nor honey-roasted peanuts are in the new lineup.

The Georgia Peanut Commission said it is "very disappointed to learn that Georgia's official state crop, the peanut, is not included in Delta's new snack options.... It seems only fitting that an Atlanta based company, Delta, would support the farmers of the state and offer a complimentary snack of peanuts," according to a statement from communications director Joy Crosby.

Still, Delta is not moving to a no-peanut policy, and the airline plans to change up snack choices regularly.

Delta spokeswoman Catherine Sirna said in a written statement that "we could certainly bring back peanuts or any other variety of snacks in the future," adding that the lineup of snacks will be refreshed again later this year.

The peanut commission said peanuts are popular because "people love how they taste," as well as their nutrition and affordability.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the second-largest carrier in Atlanta, still offers peanuts as a snack in flight. But amid concerns about allergies, other airlines have eliminated them, including United and American.

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