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Mom forced to give up gallons of breast milk at Heathrow

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Mom forced to give up gallons of breast milk at Heathrow

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Old Apr 26, 2016, 3:28 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by petaluma1
British rules are much more strict than TSA rules. You can have only enough extra in your carry-on for the trip you are taking both for baby food and medicine. If baby is not traveling with you, breast milk must be in checked luggage.
But does that exclude solid milk? Even TSA allows solids, although if they want to play nasty, they can just delay you at the checkpoint until they see a drop of condensation to justify confiscation. They did allow Britney's ice chips.

After the Britney fiasco, someone posted on this forum that s/he decided to test TSA's new, unposted rule about frozen liquids being allowed. S/he froze a full-size bottle of shampoo and took it through the checkpoint with no problem - because it was a solid.
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Old Apr 26, 2016, 4:01 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by chollie
But does that exclude solid milk? Even TSA allows solids, although if they want to play nasty, they can just delay you at the checkpoint until they see a drop of condensation to justify confiscation. They did allow Britney's ice chips.

After the Britney fiasco, someone posted on this forum that s/he decided to test TSA's new, unposted rule about frozen liquids being allowed. S/he froze a full-size bottle of shampoo and took it through the checkpoint with no problem - because it was a solid.
Yes. No baby, no milk, frozen or not.

the airport said that the government did not classify the frozen drink as a solid, and therefore it must be treated as a liquid
https://securitytoday.com/articles/2...rea=ht.airport
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Old Apr 26, 2016, 4:30 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by petaluma1
British rules are much more strict than TSA rules. You can have only enough extra in your carry-on for the trip you are taking both for baby food and medicine. If baby is not traveling with you, breast milk must be in checked luggage.
I don't care who the rulemaker is, if the rule doesn't stand up to scrutiny then the rule should be abandoned. This particular rule doesn't hold up.
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Old Apr 26, 2016, 4:40 pm
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Originally Posted by Boggie Dog
I don't care who the rulemaker is, if the rule doesn't stand up to scrutiny then the rule should be abandoned. This particular rule doesn't hold up.
I completely agree with you.
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Old Apr 26, 2016, 7:23 pm
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Originally Posted by Boggie Dog
I don't care who the rulemaker is, if the rule doesn't stand up to scrutiny then the rule should be abandoned. This particular rule doesn't hold up.
I agree with you.

There are two questions here:

1. Under the rules as they stand, should she have been allowed to board? The answer is clearly no, at least in regard to the 200oz of liquid milk. For the frozen milk, I can't find a reference to the UK rules, but the US rule is that if there's any part of the material that's not fully frozen, then it's a liquid, which would make essentially all of the frozen milk not valid for transport as well.

2. Does the rule banning liquids make sense?
Again, the answer is clearly no.

It's a stupid rule, and she was violating it.

Does she have a right to complain? Certainly. Does she have any more right to complain than any other passenger who has fallen afoul of the liquid ban? No.
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Old Apr 26, 2016, 8:00 pm
  #21  
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Originally Posted by cestmoi123
I agree with you.

There are two questions here:

1. Under the rules as they stand, should she have been allowed to board? The answer is clearly no, at least in regard to the 200oz of liquid milk. For the frozen milk, I can't find a reference to the UK rules, but the US rule is that if there's any part of the material that's not fully frozen, then it's a liquid, which would make essentially all of the frozen milk not valid for transport as well.

2. Does the rule banning liquids make sense?
Again, the answer is clearly no.

It's a stupid rule, and she was violating it.

Does she have a right to complain? Certainly. Does she have any more right to complain than any other passenger who has fallen afoul of the liquid ban? No.
I don't know UK screening rules but common sense would suggest that if medical/child nutrition items can be tested and cleared then the item should be allowed. It would not be an unreasonable burden on the screeners.
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Old Apr 26, 2016, 8:28 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by cestmoi123
It doesn't meet all the other criteria, that's the whole point. She had 200oz of liquid milk (vs. the 3.4oz per container limit, and ~32oz cumulative limit (one quart baggie), so that's definitely over the limit.

As for the 300oz of frozen milk, I don't see any specific references in the UK rules site, but TSA (in the US) regards anything that's liquid at room temperature as a liquid.
In the US, anything declared by the passenger to be a medical liquid is a medical liquid and not subject to the quantity limits
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Old Apr 26, 2016, 8:28 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by cestmoi123
While the rules are dumb, I don't really see the rationale for making an exception to them in this case. Bottom line, I don't see how she really has any more right to be angry than someone forced to dump a bottle of Diet Coke.
When you can go to the nearest 7-11 or grocery store and buy unlimited quantities of your own breast milk - noting that each woman's milk is different - then your argument might make sense.
Originally Posted by cestmoi123
It doesn't meet all the other criteria, that's the whole point. She had 200oz of liquid milk (vs. the 3.4oz per container limit, and ~32oz cumulative limit (one quart baggie), so that's definitely over the limit.
What seems to have been lost in this and the following discussion is this bit from the OP:
"... so despite offering to pack the milk in checked bags, she is forced to dump it all."
a) it wasn't just about the rules for carry-ons, she wasn't allowed to put it in checked bags either. Where exactly is the rule limiting the amount of liquids in checked bags? Oh, that's right, there isn't one.
b) she was forced to dump all of it - not "all except what would fit in a freedom baggie".

It sounds to me like UK security said "you can't have that" and then refused to back down by considering an alternative solution.
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Old Apr 27, 2016, 7:44 pm
  #24  
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Originally Posted by cestmoi123
While the rules are dumb, I don't really see the rationale for making an exception to them in this case. Bottom line, I don't see how she really has any more right to be angry than someone forced to dump a bottle of Diet Coke.
You buy Diet Coke or not buy Diet Coke. Breast milk has a fixed production rate whether you have a baby there to eat it.

It's easy enough to simply not buy extra Diet Coke before your trip. She doesn't have that option.
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Old Apr 28, 2016, 6:37 am
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
You buy Diet Coke or not buy Diet Coke. Breast milk has a fixed production rate whether you have a baby there to eat it. It's easy enough to simply not buy extra Diet Coke before your trip. She doesn't have that option.
That's beside the point. One liquid is costlier than the other, but that's not a basis for differentiation under the rules.
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