ABSTRACT
It is less than 100 years since commercial aviation began, and yet flying has become so much a part of everyday life that few people boarding an aircraft belonging to any international airline would ever consider that the aircraft could be a vehicle of infection. However, infection can arise in many ways. It can be food-borne, waterborne or transmitted by flying insects or rodents, and it may be encouraged by the incorrect handling and disposal of waste. Of these, food-borne illness is the most important, if only by virtue of the large quantities of food that have to be provided on aircraft daily on a worldwide basis.
