A TikTok traveler’s alarming claim that she was served expired food on an Air Canada flight quickly spiraled into a viral debate, prompting viewers to discuss how airline meals are labeled and stored.
The clip drew thousands of reactions as people tried to piece together what went wrong. But once commenters examined the packaging more closely, the situation took an unexpected but otherwise explainable turn.
Highlights
- A TikTok traveler accidentally Air Canada of serving six-month-old beef during her flight.
- Viewers quickly realized she simply misread the food’s expiry date because she’s used to the American format.
- Commenters flooded the post with jokes about date formats, airline food, and American quirks.
A simple meal label ended up sparking a global misunderstanding
When Kerry Schwartz posted her TikTok video on November 13, she didn’t expect to become the internet’s next poster child for American confusion.
In the video, she displayed the printed dates on her Air Canada in-flight meal: 06 11 25 and 05/11/2025. To her American-trained eyes, these looked like June 11, 2025, and May 11, 2025. Thus, she believed she had just eaten something that was prepared months before.
Her caption was brief but dramatic: “When you’re flying Air Canada on Nov 2025… and realize after finishing your meal that the beef they served expired 6 months ago. Pray for me.”
It didn’t take long for the comments to erupt. One viewer wrote: “I’m gonna need a flight attendant to weigh in on this bc there’s no way they keep food frozen for that long and then serve it.”
The true explanation emerged almost immediately. Many countries, Canada included, use the day-month-year format, meaning Schwartz’s “expired” meal was actually labeled 5 November 2025 and 6 November 2025, dates from the very same week she was flying.
Commenters confirmed it plainly: “Girl, those dates are 5th and 6th of November 2025! Everywhere else in the world writes dates as day/month/year.”
With that, the mystery unraveled, and the internet shifted to sharp comedy.
Netizens turned the mix-up into an international comedy hour
Once the misunderstanding became clear, the comments section morphed into a global roast of the TikTok creator.
Users from outside the U.S. chimed in with exasperated amusement: “Well, too bad you didn’t realize the Rest of the world uses date/month/year format!!! LOL,” one commenter wrote.
Others teased Americans and their tendency to consume things that should not be consumed. “So that’s why they write ‘DO NOT DRINK’ on cleaning products in the U.S.”
Then came one of the sharpest and darkest jabs to the TikTok creator’s post. “Question: Are all of the news stories about school sh**tings in America just to try and convince the rest of the world that you have schools at all?”
