Tuna melt 'stinking up' plane prompts fellow passenger's viral video

A passenger on a plane sniffed out another traveler's foul-smelling food in a viral video he recently posted on social media.

Zavier Torrence, 25, told Fox News Digital he was on the second leg of his trip from West Virginia to Tampa, Florida, about a week ago when someone in the seat behind him decided to eat a tuna melt – "and it was stinking up the whole entire plane."

Torrence didn't say anything to the passenger who opted for the toasted fish sandwich — but he did share thoughts with his TikTok followers.

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"Because why are we eating a tuna melt on a flight?!?" Torrence wrote in the caption of his 5-second video, which showed him covering his nose to shield the strong scent.

The video had more than 713,000 views as of Friday afternoon.

"I honestly did not expect the video to blow up the way it did," Torrence said. 

The popularity of his post might have had something to do with the text he wrote on the video, which said, "Strongly believe that people who eat on flights need to be incarcerated for 10 days."

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Several commenters took umbrage with Torrence's post.

"I have a 10-hour flight coming up … You expect people not to eat during a flight?" one person wrote.

Others said they would eat on a plane, but not a tuna melt.

On TikTok, Zavier Torrence (at right) shared his reaction to the smell of food chosen by another passenger on a plane. (iStock; Zavier Torrence)

"It's office rules," another person wrote. "Only eat food that is not fragrant, so no fish, no fried items etc. How do we not know this?"

Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert and founder of the Protocol School of Texas in San Antonio, agreed with that sentiment.

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"You should always avoid eating foods most people would find offensive, which include tuna and boiled eggs," she told Fox News Digital.

Torrence said other passengers on the flight didn't seem bothered by the smell — either that, or they chose to ignore it. 

Torrence couldn't ignore the foul-smelling tuna melt that a passenger was eating on his plane. (Zavier Torrence)

Gottsman said asking a stranger not to eat a certain food on a plane comes at a risk and could lead to a confrontation.

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Jacqueline Whitmore, a former flight attendant-turned-etiquette expert based in Florida, said that asking someone about strong-smelling food "is generally acceptable," provided it's "done politely and respectfully."

She told Fox News Digital, "The key is the approach: being calm, kind and non-confrontational."

It's "generally acceptable" to ask someone not to eat a tuna melt sandwich or other strong-smelling foods while on a plane, an etiquette expert and former flight attendant told Fox News Digital. (iStock)

Although people have the right to eat what they want on a plane, it's "extremely considerate" for a fish-eating passenger to ask others nearby if they object, Whitmore said.

Gottsman, however, sees the issue a bit differently.

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"It would be polite to ask, but many passengers will feel uncomfortable giving the person an honest answer," she said. "The passenger already knows it's a terrible smell, and it's going to affect people all around them."

Torrence clarified to Fox News Digital that he doesn't believe people shouldn't eat on planes. 

"If you're hungry, eat," he said.

Rather, said Torrence, they should consider what they're eating.

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"I mean, it's tuna," he said. 

"At least have common decency."