On 3 February 1975, 144 people fell ill aboard a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 en route from Anchorage, Alaska, to Copenhagen, Denmark, after consuming an in-flight meal contaminated with Staphylococci.

[4] In Anchorage, food prepared by a Japan Air Lines subsidiary was loaded onto the aircraft for meal service near the end of the flight.

[2] About one hour after breakfast, while approaching Copenhagen, 143 passengers and one flight attendant fell ill with symptoms including vomiting and abdominal pain.

[3][4] All affected individuals were hospitalized at least overnight in Copenhagen, 30 of whom were reported to media to have required "intensive care", while the remaining passengers continued on to Paris.

[4] As none of the doctors in Denmark spoke Japanese, and only few of the passengers were fluent in Danish or English, Japanese-speaking staff from Copenhagen restaurants were summoned to the hospital to act as translators.

[5][6] The investigation began by tracing the pathogens back to its origin, and focused on the facilities of International Inflight Catering, an Anchorage-based subsidiary of Japan Airlines, where the meals had been prepared.

In-flight catering logistics provided ideal conditions for the bacteria to grow and release toxins, which induce severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.

[8] Danish doctors stated that most of those who fell ill had occupied seats in the front section of the aircraft, consistent with Eisenberg's hypothesized distribution pattern of the contaminated omelettes.