Promised to bring a Thanksgiving dish, but flying to your destination?
Before you get to the airport with your food in your luggage, it's important to know what you can and can't bring through a security checkpoint.
According to the Transportation Security Administration, most foods can be carried through a checkpoint - as long as it's a solid item. However, "if you can spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it, and it’s larger than 3.4 ounces," then the TSA says it should probably go in a checked bag.
If you need to keep food cold during your trip, the TSA said ice packs are allowed, but they must be frozen solid and not melted when they go through security screening.
Below is a list of the most common food items asked about, provided by the TSA.
Thanksgiving foods that can be carried through a TSA checkpoint
- Baked goods. Homemade or store-bought pies, cakes, cookies, brownies and other sweet treats
- 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
- Fresh fruit. Apples, pears, pineapple, lemons, limes, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas.
- Candy
- Spices
Thanksgiving foods that should be packed in checked baggage
- Cranberry sauce. Homemade or canned are spreadable, so check them. Check bag foods
- Gravy. Homemade or in a jar/can.
- Wine, champagne, sparking apple cider.
- Canned fruit or vegetables. It’s got liquid in the can, so check them.
- Preserves, jams and jellies. They are spreadable, so best to check them.
- Maple syrup
Have more questions about what you can and can't bring through a security checkpoint? Tweet your questions to @AskTSA.