TSA agents return confiscated baby food after mom pulls out iPad

Betcha Steve Jobs never thought his iPad would help retrieve baby food from a TSA checkpoint. But these are strange times.

So here’s what happened to Jill Iseri when she flew out of Eugene, Ore., with her husband and baby last weekend. (You remember last weekend, don’t you?)

A TSA agent confiscated my 6 oz. jar of store-bought baby food which was unopened. They insisted on opening it to test for explosives.

I said they can’t do that, because it will cause it to spoil within the hour and my baby needed to eat it 2 1/2 hours later, while in the air.

I was told I could check it in luggage, but obviously that wouldn’t help.

I also had a 4 oz. jar of fruit that they didn’t test, saying “We let those slide.” They did test my baby’s sippy cup water.

All my pleading fell on deaf ears, I was told next time I could bring four jars, that way when they open two of them, I’d still have two jars to keep.


Iseri asked to see the TSA’s baby-food rules and also, where they got the authority to open her jars. An agent told her, “That’s not public information.”

She whipped out her iPad and pulled up the TSA site, which said,

[G]reater than 3 ounces of baby formula, breast milk, or juice are permitted through the security checkpoint in reasonable quantities for the duration of your itinerary.

However, the site adds that these larger bottles “may” be tested.

I showed him where it says baby food jars exceeding 3.4 oz are allowed and does not mention opening for testing. When I asked him what I was supposed to do now, he said, “Get in your car and go buy more.”

She didn’t like that answer. But she wasn’t letting go. What was she going to feed her baby?

She appealed to a supervisor, insisting TSA had misread its own rules.

Perhaps this video was fresh in the screeners’ minds at the time.


She says the supervisor backed down:

The supervisor either had a change of heart, or realized he may be wrong, and he gave me back the confiscated bottle. I figured the end result wasn’t as relevant as how we got there, because I believe they handled it wrongly.

Iseri wants to know what I think. Did TSA follow its own rules?

Since TSAs rules are vague, I believe it could do anything — including turning off the full-body scanners on Thanksgiving weekend — and still “follow” its own rules.

One thing is clear — TSA is eager to avoid a repeat of the last two weeks. I think that’s something we can all agree on.

(Photo: el mad a/Flickr Creative Commons)

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  • http://abolishthetsa.net/ Hugh

    Sign the petition to abolish the TSA: http://abolishthetsa.net/sign-the-petition/

  • http://www.worldtraveler.biz Preston Smith

    Is it just me, or have you also noticed the following:

    1) Most (not all) of the guys that rip on Chris and his TSA posts never comment on anything else, and generally they post one comment and never come back.

    2) Most who comment on the senselessness of criticizing the TSA are doing it in a very condenscending fashion–i.e. “you are all just a bunch of whiners” or “you are unpatriotic or risking U.S. security.”

    3) Most who make such comments refuse to actually discuss the subject. No point-by-point breakdown or actual discourse, just “you people are this or that.”

    Additionally, such posts seem to be an attempt to prove that those who criticize the TSA (is there not room for constructive criticism?) are some part of a wild-eyed minority, including Chris.

    This is, I believe anyway, rather troubling. Some posters on this site have said that Chris is simply spending too much time on one subject. That I believe is constructive criticism, and any editor/journalist has to be careful about falling into this trap…

    However, as part of a blog I run, I have started tallying TSA comments on various sites/news stories. Whatever the various polls say, the pro-TSA posters are quite few and far between. Maybe 1 in 10 (it’s too early to say, but really the way it’s going, the stats could in the end be 1 in 100), with the vast majority of internet posters being highly to at least slightly critical of recent TSA moves.

    This could mean that 1) many more people are against current TSA policies than has been put forward by the press (although this certainly would not necessarily translate into these numbers protesting in airports, which is probably a good thing) 2) or that many more active travelers are against TSA polices or that 3) posters are simply more right-wing, radical, politically-active or however you want to put it than the general population–the point being that perhaps among the “active internet population” there are simply more people critical of the TSA, or there are more who are going to post than those in the TSA’s defence, or that for some still undiscerned and perhaps misleading reason they are more anti-TSA/authority to begin with.

    Which means, as people love to say, that anything can be read into stats and polls. Or perhaps it means that the internet is still much more of a select, homogeneous audience (at least among responders) than we would like to believe.

    However, no matter where I look (and really am tryng just in the sake of being objective) I absolutely cannot find the following:
    1) comments following a blog or story where the majority of posters (or even a sizeable minority) side with current TSA policies
    2) comments where the majority or sizeable minority show confidence in backscatter technology.
    3) comments where the majority or sizeable minority of posters believe the “manners” of the TSA are appropriate in dealing with the public.

    The only exception to this (and detractors are still not in the majority) has to do with the woman who’s story was called into question after she asserted that she was handcuffed to a chair (which really does look like a falsehood). But these comments are actually for the most part not supporting the TSA, but in fact showing outrage at what was deemed to be rather outrageous fibbing on her part.

    Now, just for the record, I am certainly not one of the “abolish the TSA” crowd. However, I am concerned about the current policies,etc.

    But what I am really interested in is current public opinion. If you happen to hit blogs or news stories where the opinion is pro-current TSA policies, please shoot me an e-mail to preston.smith@psiloc.com. Right now this is still not an overly-professional survey on my part, as I have other duties at work, but even so–or even for my own knowledge–I’d like to try to get a better handle on public opinion here (or at least virtual/internet opinion). Perhaps all of my above suppositions are wrong and I have fallen into a rut of news sources/sites myself…

    At any rate, this is quite interesting stuff.

    P

  • Geoff

    I WOULD NEVER BELIEVE THAT AFTER 4 MILLION MILES IN THE AIR, ALL OVER THE WORLD, THAT TSA COULD BECOME SO INVASIVE. ISRAEL DOES A FAR BETTER JOB, NO INCIDENTS, AND RESPECTS HUMAN RIGHTS. I DON’T FLY ANYMORE FOR RELAXATION UNLESS IT IS A PRIVATE PLANE FAR FAR AWAY FROM THE FORMAL TSA.

  • FL Traveler

    Bring 4 jars so they can test 2 and you still have 2 (if they are so worried about explosives, aren’t they worried they would get the “clean” ones and let the “dirty” ones by?).

    Get in a car and buy some more. (?)

    Did an agent actually say these things? Are conditions THAT weird?

  • David H

    Maybe she’d have been better off getting arrested and suing both the TSA and Police for false arrest.

    The Police officer knows it was all BS, but to follow the TSA’s rules, atr least according to the captions.

  • Carrie Charney

    @Preston Smith: You don’t think the TSA would, (gasp!) plant a couple of shills, to call us “whiners” in this blog, just to make it appear that there are those who support them, do you???

  • http://www.worldtraveler.biz Preston Smith

    @Carrie,

    I should hope not, but it does look odd. On the other hand, it’s probably more of a case of people name-calling (which is a form of bigotry, really) instead of participating in rational discourse.

    This may be the most troubling thing about this post–and American politics today. Dismissing people as whiners–especially when this is at least a sizeable minority (or majority on the internet) means you are categorically saying that a group of people should have no say in what is a discussion of civil liberties. Whoever is right or wrong is in a sense already beside the point. Obviously, there are people who feel aggrieved here. It’s possible that each and every one is illogical or insane, but it is much more likely that this issue needs to be discussed to improve TSA policies.

    Maybe scanners should stay–but maybe backscatter technology should not be at the forefront when there are clearly equal options with no radiation concerns whatsoever. Or maybe backscatter is actually safe as milk, but the public should see clearly non-biased studies to assure them of this.

    As it stands, we have a very suspicious general public, and frankly when it comes to backscatter technology, the subject is, if anything, rather murky. The gov says it’s fine. But there are too many independent researchers/academics who raise questions–and frankly what I worry about are TSA employees eventually suing (at the taxpayer’s expense) and blaming the machines for cancer whether the machines are to blame or not.

    None of this is in our interest, just as a lack of real discourse is also not in our interest. The best thing for everyone would be hearings in Congress–and by this I mean hearings where the TSA is grilled for its (and our) on good. We could then get a TSA that has more of the public’s trust–and a TSA that is better-organized with better-trained staffers, which would be a blessing for everyone.

  • http://www.clarkecomputer.com Charles Clarke

    If a TSA agent can’t or won’t follow the rules their own agency puts out, they should be disciplined. If they persist, they should be fired. They should have a copy of their own rules right there in the security area so they can check them when a passenger believes they are not following them.

    I can understand not trusting a passenger’s copy of the rules. I could easily fake up rules and print them. Not being a terrorist or someone trying to get around the rules, I wouldn’t, of course. :-)

    My girlfriend just got her first extended pat down. It started with a metal thermos in her carry-on that they tested for explosives. Then they tested her hands for explosives, which tested positive. She’s not sure if it was the gasoline from fueling up the rental car before returning it or the alcohol wipe she used to clean her hands afterward. Any experts on here know?

    She said the pat down was by a trainee – cute even, unlike the agents in the video here. After she commented on how this must be an uncomfortable part of the job, the trainee said that it was even more uncomfortable during the training where she was patting down her co-workers. My girlfriend commented that she didn’t make any jokes because apparently TSA has a problem with those. If I get an extended pat down on our trip to Hawaii next month, I’m going to be in trouble because I’m sure I’ll crack a few jokes – especially when they say they are going to slide their hand up between my legs until they get resistance! :-)

    The TSA agents were nice and complimented my girlfriend several times on taking it in stride. Apparently that doesn’t happen too often…

  • Gbbg

    911 you no longer have any rights

  • http://www.facebook.com/DeniseFinelli Denise Finelli

    I tried being nice to TSA when this whole thing started in 2001.  They said “everybody remove your shoes”, I  simply asked sir would you you like me to remove my socks too (because I didn’t know why we had to remove shoes back then) and he got nasty and said something along lines of my question being stupid. I simply figured well, hey they MIGHT be looking for hidden razor blades or something. So I was being polite! I’m the educated one and I was only 22. He had rotten teeth in his mouth and a state job that provides full dental. Therefore, he’s the dumb ass not me! People should file class action lawsuit against the TSA for NOT sanitizing the floor when thousands of people step in the same spot! Imaging going to the foot doctor and her never wore gloves! Would he NOT lose his medical license???? (People can EASILY spread foot fungus, bacteria, etc.) Can somebody say “HEALTH VIOLATION”!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Jim M

    You are missing the point.  The preponderance of somewhat wierd rules is intended to scare people away from flying.  I’d rather drive 500 miles than endure TSA so I could take a 2.5 hour flight.

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