We were flying out of Burbank, CA. We went through the appropriately signed line for medical liquids and I declared the two 8 oz. sealed cans of prescription formula Pediasure to the first agent. She waved me on through.
Our 4 year old daughter is feeding tube dependent. We had all the medical equiment to go with the Pediasure. We had read the TSA guidelines on the medical disabilities page. The TSA at the airport we flew out of to begin our trip didn't give us any problems.
But back to my point. When we got past the metal detector, another agent chastised me for not having the Pediasure cans in a zip top bag. According to the TSA website medical disabilities page that doesn't apply to medical liquids. Another agent used the wand swab and swabbed the cans and asked me which bag I had taken the cans from, that bag was also "swabbed with the wand".
The agent told me that I either had to consent to the cans being disposed of or agree to "additional screening". Who knows how long that could have taken and I was afraid we would miss our flight. The idea of being at the mercy of these TSA agents was a bit scary so in the trash went my daughter's tube feeding formula.
What did we do wrong to have our daughter's medically necessary food thrown in the trash? It wasn't like we just had random cans of Pediasure. The agent handed me back our bag after it was swabbed with the Magic Wand so obviously it was fine. I asked the agent what was wrong with the formula other than not being in zip top bags and his answer was "Keep the cans and agree to additional screening or we dispose of them."
It is absurd that a special needs 4 year old child's feeding tube formula is put in the trash as part of the security theater act.
Do these people have a conscience?