US Airports With Healthiest Food Ranked
The majority of U.S. airports actually offer some semblance of healthy eats.
— -- If long hours in airports in the coming days has you far more worried about derailing your healthy eating habits than all the candy canes that await you at your destination, read on.
Turns out that the majority of U.S. airports actually offer some semblance of healthy eats, according to new research from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
The group's December 2014 report -- its 14th annual -- found that 75 percent of restaurants at 23 of the busiest U.S. airports offer at least one "healthful plant-based entrée."
From October to November 2014, Physicians Committee dietitians reviewed restaurant menus at 23 of the 30 busiest U.S. airports. "Each airport’s score is determined by dividing the number of restaurants offering at least one healthful plant-based entrée by the total number of restaurants in the airport," the report's methodology states.
"A restaurant ranks as healthful if it serves at least one high-fiber, cholesterol-free menu item, which includes a breakfast, lunch, or dinner entrée. The healthful option must resemble a meal by including at least two of the four food groups on the Physicians Committee’s Power Plate: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, or legumes."
Baltimore's BWI Airport tops the list for healthy eats for the first time in the report's history. At BWI, 92 percent of restaurants offered healthy options, the report found. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains in last place for the fourth year in a row, with healthful entrées available at about half of its restaurants. This is the fourth year in a row ATL -- the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic -- has come in last place.
The entire report, complete with specific restaurant and meal recommendations for your holiday travels can be read here.
Following are the top 10 airports for healthiest eats:
1. Baltimore/Washington International Airport (92 percent)
2. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (90 percent)
3. Los Angeles International Airport (88 percent)
4. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (87 percent)
5. Newark Liberty International Airport (86 percent)
6. (tie) LaGuardia Airport (84 percent)
6. (tie) Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (84 percent)
8. Denver International Airport (83 percent)
9. San Francisco International Airport (82 percent)
10. Washington Dulles International Airport (80 percent)
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