What’s Up With The TSA Making You Remove Snacks From Your Carry-On?

13.5K

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) seems to be in a state of flux lately when it comes to snacks. As I’ve combed through message boards, I’ve seen person after person say how they had to empty all of the snacks in their carry on bag(s), when they had read the rules on TSA’s website before they flew and really weren’t expecting to have to go through all of that. So what’s going on?

According to TSA’s website:

OK, so TSA may ask you to remove the snacks from your bag if they make it harder to see clear images on X-ray. Operative word of “may,” which would lead you to believe that it doesn’t happen very often.

But apparently a LOT of people at a LOT of airports are being asked to remove all of their snacks from their bags before they go through X-ray and have them go in a bin through X-ray, on their own (like how computer would go through). And if you don’t remove all your snacks (say you missed one) and whatever you neglected to remove causes issues with clarity of seeing all the stuff in your carry on when it goes through the scanner, your bag might have to go through enhanced inspection.

Awesomesauce.

Again, there’s nothing documented on TSA’s website that say it’s going to happen often, but that’s how it’s happening. Very often, people are being told asked to remove their snacks from their carry-on bags. Now granted, if all you have is a sandwich and a bag of chips, that won’t be very difficult. But if you’re going home from Walt Disney World and were on the Disney Dining Plan and didn’t use up all your credits so you bought three dozen chocolate covered Rice Krispie Treats in the shape of Mickey Mouse heads at the last second and put them into your carry on, it might take you more than a little extra time to pull those all out and put them all back.

Oh, and by the way, if you’re on the TSA Pre-Check line? They probably won’t do this to  you and your snacks can remain in your bags.

So what’s my advice? Well…

#1, don’t argue with them. They’re the TSA and, short of the people at the airline’s check-in desk, they’re the first people who are allowed to say you can’t board your plane if you cause a fuss. So don’t cause a fuss.

#2, plan how you pack your carry on. If you’ve got snacks in your bags (and especially if you have a lot of snacks in your bags), pack them so they’re ready and easily accessible if you’re told to remove all of your snacks from your bags.

#3, consider putting the snacks in your checked baggage. This might not be ideal with something melty, like chocolate, in the summertime, but perhaps some of your foods could be checked.

#4, perhaps you can mail your snacks and food home. This would depend on circumstances, especially comparing costs of shipping a bag of food home vs. checking another suitcase, but it’s another option.

#5, as I said, as of this writing, people in the TSA Pre-Check line generally aren’t being asked to pull all of their snacks out of their bags, so it’s just ONE MORE REASON to consider getting TSA-Pre-Check.

Good luck!

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love if you decided to hang around and clicked the button on the top (if you’re on your computer) or the bottom (if you’re on your phone/tablet) of this page to follow our blog and get emailed notifications of when we post (it’s usually just two or three times a day). Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group, where we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel  articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!