A social media user faced heavy criticism online for vlogging about making sourdough bread from her seat on a flight to Spain.

Content creator Maria Baradell, 37, has gained a following online by documenting the making of baked goods for her bread bakery, but a recent video sparked controversy after she filmed herself making sourdough on an airplane.

In the video, the mother of five can be seen starting to bake a fresh loaf of bread to surprise her sister. First, she puts water and sourdough starter in a hinged bowl, then sprinkles in flour and other ingredients.

The bread then underwent a series of stretching and folding processes on the fold-out tray before it began to ferment while Baradell took a nap in her seat on the connecting American Airlines flight from Chicago to Barcelona.

However, due to the altitude, temperature and humidity in the cabin, the dough did not rise completely, so she had to wait until she was reunited with her sister so she could complete the fermentation and baking process.

What was intended to be a creative video to promote and share their passion for bread baking unfortunately ended in a flood of comments criticizing bread baking on airplanes.

The video, posted on both TikTok and Instagram, sparked concern among many people about how people with allergies, particularly gluten allergies, would fare if someone baked bread in mid-air. Others worried about bacteria on the plane making the bread unsanitary.

“What about people who have severe allergies?” wrote one user, while another said, “I carry an EpiPen for a severe wheat allergy. The flour particles in the air wouldn’t be good.”

“For me as an airline employee, this is a perfect example of the fact that we have seen it all,” said another commenter.

Others wondered how she managed to get through airport security with all her ingredients.

In response, Baradell said The Independent that the ingredients she brought were allowed after passing TSA testing. She also said she asked her seatmates if it was OK, and that the bread she baked at home killed any germs, and that she used disinfectant at every step.

However, the comments were not only negative: some praised the creator for the interesting idea and others were impressed that she had managed to make the sourdough so high in the sky.

“Girl I can’t even read on a plane… You’re up there making bread,” one person wrote. Another commented, “I’m someone who gets super nervous when flying. If I saw you doing that next to me, I’d instantly relax.”

Despite the mixed reviews of her viral video, Baradell apologized in a follow-up video and stated that she would not try something like that again.

“I tried to be creative after seeing another creative making pasta on the flight, but thanks to your comments I learned that’s not such a good idea,” she wrote.

“I’m very grateful to the people who were so kind in giving me their feedback, but it’s ok if you want to hate it, I had good intentions. We had this bread for dinner the next day and it was great! I loved exploring Barcelona and visiting some of the best bakeries.”

In response to a comment about the potential risk for allergy sufferers, the creator said: “I learned this after my first video. I thought it would be OK because they serve bread on airplanes, but I was proven wrong. That’s why I say I wouldn’t try it again and I’m sorry.”

“I said I wouldn’t try it again because it had been brought to my attention that the flour could pose a risk if there were coeliacs on board because of the air recirculation,” she said.

Baradell, who is originally from Venezuela but now lives in Dallas with her husband and five children, said The Independent that she fell in love with baking sourdough bread in early 2024 and started giving it away to her neighbors, but that soon after, people started asking her every week if they could buy it from her, which led her to become a licensed bread seller.

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