Want to prepare Thanksgiving dinner and then bring it with you on your flight to grandmother’s house?
The Transportation Security Administration has some advice for travelers who want to bring all the trimmings. With the TSA expecting to screen more than 18.3 million travelers between Tuesday and Dec. 2 — a 6% increase from 2023 — the last thing anyone wants is a turkey holding up the line.
“Before you agree to bring a family favorite food item to contribute to the Thanksgiving holiday table, it’s important to think about how you’re planning to transport it if you are flying to spend the holiday with family or friends,” the TSA said. “Most foods can be carried through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, but there are some items that will need to be transported in checked baggage.”
A basic rule is that if it’s a solid item, it can go through a checkpoint. But if you can spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it — and it’s larger than 3.4 ounces — then it should go into a checked bag. Ice packs can be used to preserve items, but they must be frozen.
Any food item will likely need to go through additional screening, so an easily accessible carrier should be used.
Here is a list of 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.
- Macaroni and 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, kiwi.
- Candy.
- Spices.
Thanksgiving foods that should be carefully packed with your checked baggage:
- 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’s got liquid in the can, so check it.
- Preserves, jams and jellies. They are spreadable, so best to check them.
- Maple syrup.
For more information, download the free myTSA app, which has a “What can I bring?” feature that allows you to type in the item to find out if it can fly. Or ask on Twitter or Facebook Messenger at @AskTSA. Travelers may send a question by texting “Travel” to AskTSA (275-872).
Originally Published: