As many people travel for Thanksgiving holiday, one major concern is what food can I travel with. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has provided guidance on traveling with food during the Thanksgiving Holiday. The TSA projects that 18.3 million people will travel from Tuesday, Nov. 26 to Monday, Dec. 2. This represents an increase of 6% from last year. As usual, the busiest travel days will be the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday afterwards.
Travelers need to think through the rules if they plan on traveling with food. Remember, the TSA thinks that Peanut Butter is a liquid. Most foods may be carried through a TSA checkpoint, but not all. There are some items that will need to be transported in checked baggage.
General Guidance:
- If it is a solid item, then it can go through a checkpoint.
- If you can spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it, and it is larger than 3.4 ounces, then it should go in a checked bag.
As a workaround option (or cheat), if you can freeze a liquid, then you can bring it through a TSA checkpoint frozen.
Here are some frequently encountered examples relating to what foods are permitted to go through a checkpoint and which ones need to get packed in checked baggage.
Thanksgiving foods that can be carried through a TSA checkpoint
- Baked goods. Homemade or store-bought pies, cakes, cookies, brownies and other sweet treats. The pies are the item that surprises me the most since the pie filling could be considered a liquid.
- Meats. Turkey, chicken, ham, steak. Frozen, cooked or uncooked.
- Stuffing. Cooked, uncooked, in a box or in a bag.
- Casseroles. Traditional green beans and onion straws or something more exotic.
- Mac ‘n Cheese. Cooked in a pan or traveling with the ingredients to cook it at your destination.
- Fresh vegetables. Potatoes, yams, broccoli, green beans, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, beets, radishes, carrots, squash, greens. Word of advice, no wants the brussel sprouts or beets so keep them at home.
- Fresh fruit. Apples, pears, pineapple, lemons, limes, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, kiwi.
- Candy. All is good but not your typical Thanksgiving fare
- Spices.
Thanksgiving foods that should be checked with your luggage
- Cranberry sauce. Homemade or canned are spreadable, so check them.
- Gravy. Homemade or in a jar/can.
- Wine, champagne, sparking apple cider.
- Canned fruit or vegetables. It has liquid in the can, so check them.
- Preserves, jams and jellies. They are spreadable, so best to check them.
- Maple syrup. Not my typical Thanksgiving fare but it works great with Pancakes.
If you have any other specific questions, you can always learn more on the myTSA App. The App has a “Can I Bring” Section as well as a AskTSA feature. Either way, have a great Thanksgiving! And remember, we all need to start exercising after the holidays!