Last week, I witnessed a fellow commuter demolishing two steak bakes, a sausage roll and a cake in the space of perhaps four stops. This person was next to me and, after swiping the debris off my lap, I was left pondering whether this was acceptable behaviour or not. I concluded — of course — that food should stay off the tube, especially if it does any of the following: smell, crumble, ooze, melt, pop, squirt, or offend (granted, this last one is perhaps less subjective than the others...).
I was naive enough to believe that this was a fairly universal view until I checked the comments of a video I posted on TikTok, where a seemingly hostile debate was taking place. Londoners are passionate people. The video above explains what those on the street make of it all, but below are both sides of the argument in sum.
Do what you want, you’re allowed to!
“I eat on the tube whenever I want,” says one commuter. And they do have every right to. TFL has a document published named the “TFL Conditions of Carriage”, which explains the house rules — no drinking booze, no smoking, no flash photography, no hoverboards (yes that’s on there) — but there is no mention of food at all. Food is legally allowed to be consumed on TFL services. But still, there are a lot of legal things that are considered rude, like staring, or refusing to give up your chair for an elderly person. This is where our moral compass has to kick in.
In 2019, Dame Sally Davies, who was England’s Chief Medical Officer at the time, recommended in a report that the government made eating on the tube illegal, but no legislation came to light. Hong Kong seem to agree — eating on the tube is outlawed there — while it’s considered very rude in countries such as Japan.
As long as it doesn’t smell…
One of the main arguments against tube scoffing is the smell. As one Londoner told the Standard: “We already don’t want to be packed like sardines underground on a moving vehicle, never mind being near someone eating a tuna sandwich and making the whole place stink.”
“Hot food is always going to have more odour to it than cold food, so I think cold dry snacks are fine,” says another Londoner who had a run in with someone who was eating a particularly pungent noodle soup on their carriage. TFL used to display “please don’t eat smelly food” posters but these appear to be few and far between these days.
The clock is ticking
One commuter argued that many workers, in particular nurses, might not have time in their working day to eat, so may rely on their commute time for it.
“I have no time or energy when I get home,” one student told the Standard, who explained they value their tube journey to “catch up on sleep, studies, and to fill my stomach.”
Another commuter says that there are health conditions like low blood sugar and diabetes that may require you to need urgent snacks, adding that they get migraines when they’re hungry — adding that “the smell of my food will be nicer than the smell of my vomit, I can assure you.”
Ew, that’s dirty
Cleanliness and littering is another argument against food on the tube. Last week I found the below remains of some small fish in between seats on the Victoria Line. The tinned fish renaissance, it seems, has made its way to our underground transport system too.
There’s also the cleanliness of the train carriages themselves to consider. While TFL told the Standard the lines are all clean (“although cleaning regimes vary across the Underground, each line has a rigorous cleaning schedule in place, for both the interior and exterior of the trains, to provide a pleasant environment for our customers”), there are some things to consider. Take, for instance, the poles Londoners grip while standing up. It’s been reported in the past that they’re spot cleaned every night but only wiped down thoroughly every two to three days.
