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T.S.A. starts checking snacks, holds up security lines

It used to be that solids foods were safe from the prying eyes of airport security. But TSA has stepped up its screening of carry-on snacks, meaning the security line is about get that much slower. According to The Daily Meal, TSA officers have been making passengers remove all snacks from their carry-on bags before walking sending them through screening. This means that lines are getting held up for that Clif Bar you forgot you tucked in your backpack side pocket, and that trail mix in your kid’s carry-on. Because many people aren’t aware of the new screening, they’re being sent back through security lines because of food they have forgotten about. The New York Times reports that this its not an official policy, but security can ask people to remove snacks if they think it’s necessary or if snack items look questionable on X-ray cameras. Snack scanning is supposed to actually speed up lines…

Flying with food: What you can bring through TSA security checkpoints this holiday

Inching your way through the airport security line the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is stressful and time-consuming enough. The last thing you want to do is be pulled aside by a TSA agent and forced to toss that great bottle of wine you got Dad simply because you forgot the liquid laws. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) estimates that 2.4 million passengers will pass through security checkpoints each day leading up to Thanksgiving. And holiday travel is expected to be up throughout the whole 2017 season. “Last year was a record breaking year for the airline industry, and this year is expected to break that,” said Michael England, TSA National Spokesman. Food and drink play a big role in the holidays, so it’s likely that many of these millions of travelers will attempt to take with them edible gifts, baked goods or maybe even a side dish of some sort. Fortunately for travelers, agency stipulations don’t have to…

The fate of your confiscated airport food

A bustling travel season is in full swing, and while we’re all familiar with the airport security screening process, it can still be easy to make a mistake when an open water bottle or piece of fruit gets forgotten in your backpack. But what happens to these food items after they’re confiscated? These airport checkpoints don’t exist simply to inconvenience you, but rather to protect our American agriculture from threat. In a video by Great Big Story, U.S. customs supervisor Ellie Scaffa tells the story of what happens to these illegal imports down the line — and no, the TSA staff doesn’t get to sit around feasting each evening. “I’ve been threatened with my life,” she says about her efforts at New York’s JFK Airport where she personally sorts through up to 600 pounds of illegal produce per day. All confiscated goods, whether it be Chinese beef candy or Jamaican mangoes,…