“Electrolyte packets prevent colds or infections, including on flights.”
Electrolyte packets do not prevent colds or other infections, on a plane or anywhere else.
A packet will not protect you from germs on a trip. Water and your usual drinks keep you hydrated just as well.
Drink water as usual when you travel. You do not need an electrolyte packet to stay well.
A 2021 review of 23 trials of travel foods, drinks and supplements found no trial showing that fluids or electrolytes prevent infections, and no trial has tested the product itself, so this verdict rests on what is known about its ingredients. Confidence is limited because few trials of any travel product have measured infections at all.
Electrolyte packets do not prevent colds or other infections, on a plane or anywhere else. They replace water and salt, and no study has shown that this protects you from germs.
In the 2021 review of air-travel products, the only fluid trial measured pilots' flying performance, not infections. Some travel packets also add herbs or vitamins, and those need their own evidence: in one elderberry trial in air travelers, 12 people caught colds with elderberry and 17 without it, a gap small enough to be chance, though colds were shorter with elderberry. The UK aviation regulator says recirculated cabin air passes through filters that are highly effective at removing particles, and that you are no more likely to catch an infection on a plane than on public transport, at the airport or in a hotel.
- Chan V, Wang L, Allman-Farinelli M. Efficacy of Functional Foods, Beverages, and Supplements Claiming to Alleviate Air Travel Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2021;13(3):961. DOI: 10.3390/nu13030961. PMID: 33809656
- UK Civil Aviation Authority. Passenger health FAQs: the aircraft cabin, your health and comfort. Summer 2026 consumer travel advice