Can you bring food through TSA checkpoints? The question is common enough that the agency itself frequently shares clarifications on social media—such as its March 2023 tweet declaring peanut butter a liquid, that, much to the chagrin of fliers, is limited to 3.4 ounces in carry-on bags. But whether you're trying to bring home a local delicacy, pack breast milk or formula to keep a baby fed in flight, or just plain forgot about the cured meats in your carry-on until you were in the airport security line, TSA food rules can be confusing.
The short answer is yes, you can take food through TSA—you'll just might encounter some trouble the closer those foods are to a liquid. The long answer is that whether your food meets airport security's requirements comes down to a few guidelines.
“If you can spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it, or pour it, then it’s considered a liquid or gel,” says Mark Howell, regional spokesperson for the TSA. That means it falls under the 3-1-1 liquids rule, which mandates that any liquid, gel, cream, aerosol, or paste in a carry-on must be 3.4 ounces or less, and fit in one quart-size resealable bag (only one such bag is allowed per passenger).
Still, even if a food item is generally permitted, it may be subject to additional screening or not allowed through the airport security checkpoint if it triggers an alarm during the screening process, appears to have been tampered with, or poses other airport security concerns.
Here's everything you need to know about bringing food through airport security and onto your flight.
What foods are—and are not—allowed on a plane?
1. Baby food, baby formula, and breast milk
Baby formula, breast milk, toddler drinks like juices, and baby or toddler food (including puree pouches) of “reasonable quantities” are allowed in carry-on baggage and do not need to fit within a quart-sized bag, as the TSA considers them to be medically necessary liquids. The TSA also recommends using clear or translucent bottles when possible for these items.
This allowance to bring baby food notably extends to breast milk and baby formula–cooling accessories, such as ice packs, freezer packs, and gel packs. This is true whether or not your child is traveling with you. The TSA does, however, recommend letting the officers know that you are carrying these things at the beginning of the screening process so they can be properly handled and potentially flagged for additional screening.
2. Creamy dips and spreads; canned, jarred, and bottled items
If a cheese or other foodstuff is spreadable, like cream cheese, peanut butter, ranch dressing, or Nutella, then traveling with it in your carry-on means packing in line with that 3-1-1 liquids rule explained above (unless it's already in a sandwich, in which case you should be fine.)
Cranberry sauce may be integral to a holiday meal, but unless you’ve decanted it into a bottle of 3.4 ounces or less, its gelatinous consistency puts it too far into liquid rules territory to be allowed in a carry-on. Cans of cranberry sauce—along with other similarly jiggly and pourable foods or creamy dips and spreads—must be in checked baggage. These include gravy, containers of frosting, jams, jellies, soft butter, honey, syrups, salsa, dips, chutney, spreads, soup, pudding, salad dressing, and other food items that resemble these, such as mustard or hummus, which respectively qualify as a spread and a dip.
As always, alcohol goes with other liquids are allowed in your carry-on, provided they are in containers of 3.4 ounces or less, all fitting inside that clear, quart-size baggie. It is against FAA law, however, to consume personal alcohol on an airplane.
3. Seafood and meats
Meats—whether cooked, raw, whole, or sliced—are fine to bring onboard your flight. Nonetheless, be courteous when you take food through TSA; seal it up well, and aim to keep any smells or juices contained. Consider extra packaging materials that seal, just in case the cling wrap hits a snag. Eggs are also allowed onboard, and they don’t even need to be hard-boiled—but again, packaging here is crucial.
As we discovered in 2017 when the TSA found (and cleared) a 20-pound lobster in someones luggage, clawed crustaceans and other frozen seafood are allowed as carry-on or checked baggage, with the proper packaging and labeling. Some airports, like those in Boston and Halifax, even sell ready-to-fly boxes of lobsters, fitting up to 10 in one box and packing them with bags of frozen peas, instead of ice packs or gel blocks.
4. Pies, cakes, and donuts
A fresh-baked pie or cake in your bag may tempt TSA agents into a weak joke about taste-testing, but pies and cakes are allowed as carry-ons—whether whole or sliced. Apple dumplings, cupcakes, brownies, fritters, donuts (filled or not, interestingly), cookies, gingerbread, dry baking mixes, and even fruitcake are okay to fly in the cabin. They do count as carry-on items, though, and you may be asked to put them underneath the seat in front of you, as opposed to the overhead bin.
Sweets still must pass through the X-ray machine at the airport security checkpoint, so TSA agents will quickly determine if the item needs additional screening to see if there’s anything more dangerous than ganache at the center of those truffles.
5. Hand sanitizer
Although not a food, hand sanitizer is food-adjacent in that you’ll be happy to have it on-hand (pun intended) when and if you decide to snack, for cleaning your tray table and hands before eating. It is a specific exception to the 3-1-1 rule, initiated in March 2020 when the U.S. declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency and the TSA relaxed the limitation on hand sanitizer in carry-ons, raising the allowance from 3 to 12 ounces (one bottle per traveler). This is still the case, “until further notice,” according to the TSA’s official website.
6. Everything else
Still not finding your answer? Double-check that the food item that you want to fly with isn’t in the TSA list of prohibited items. If still in doubt, try the “What Can I Bring?” feature on the MyTSA app and website, or snap a photo of the item and send your question directly to the TSA via Twitter (@AskTSA), Facebook Messenger, Apple Business Chat (AskTSA), or text ‘Travel’ to AskTSA (275-872).
Foods you shouldn't bring on a plane
In general, we recommend abiding by a version of the Golden Rule modified for air travel: Only take food through TSA and onto a plane that you yourself wouldn't mind smelling if someone else brought it.
Traveler editors have a lot to say when it comes to the controversial topic of what foods are socially acceptable to bring and consume on a plane. In summary? Leave the ridiculously crunchy, overly pungent, and grossly sticky foods at home. As for problematic foods, anything which could cause another passenger to have an allergic reaction—such as peanuts—is always a risk, so opt for another impulse snack at the airport grab-n-go.
Remember: You can always check it
Whether it’s ingredients for mom's famous casserole or a batch of brownies, tucking your food into your checked baggage is almost always a safer bet. Checked bags aren’t party to the liquid rules of carry-on luggage, so liquids, creamy dips and spreads, and foods like honey, salsa, jam, and soft cheeses—the ones that fall into that questionable gray area between a liquid and solid and won't be let through at TSA security checkpoints—are always best in checked baggage.
If your food needs to stay cold, pack it in your checked baggage with frozen ice packs or gel packs (or use bags of frozen peas), but remember to be careful to always pull them out of the freezer the moment before you leave for the airport to ensure maximum frozenness.
As with any food you bring into the cabin, be mindful of the odor of foods you check into your luggage, too. If you’re flying with food that has a strong scent—say, onion bagels or certain cheeses—wrap them well or place them in a sturdy freezer bag so the other contents of your luggage don't spend the flight simmering in the stench. That Roquefort you purchased in Paris may taste great, but it's not as nice as a perfume.
Additional reporting by Louis Cheslaw.
This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
