Beloved snacks approved by the RAF after testing
BOSSES at Tunnock’s have welcomed the news that the Royal Air Force (RAF) has lifted a flight ban on its teacakes.
The treats were initially banned from RAF flights in 1965 after it was discovered they would ‘explode’ at certain altitudes if left out of the wrapper, potentially covering a pilot’s instruments in sticky marshmallow.
New tests have now been conducted by the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine in Bedfordshire under strict conditions. Tunnock’s teacakes were put into an altitude chamber – typically used for training pilots – and were lifted to 8,000ft, climbing at a rate of 4,000ft per minute.
They were then quickly decompressed to 25,000ft in three seconds to see if the treats would expand and blow up. And, while the marshmallow inside did expand and crack the chocolate case, they did not explode and cause a risk to in-flight safety.
As a result, RAF pilots are now permitted to bring Tunnock’s teacakes back on-board and into the cockpit without fear of explosions.
Dr Oliver Bird, an instructor at the RAF base who carried out the tests, concluded: “The best advice is that the snacks are kept frozen and in their foil wrappings until pilots are ready to consume them.”
Fergus Loudon, sales director at Tunnock’s, said: “If we really are talking about the people who fly our supersonic jet fighter bombers, then I’m inclined to think that Tunnock’s teacakes wouldn’t be the highest thing on their list of worries.
“But I’m glad they can now enjoy them, like everyone else, with official approval.”
