I bought a 50 mL tube of Colgate in Cozumel last week. I notice the TSA guidance on the sign in Charlotte now says 3 ounces or 90 mL, so mine was OK. Having that tube was actually VERY useful when it came to getting my bug spray through the screening. I didn't have time to buy bug spray before leaving the US, so I bought a can of aerosol stuff down there. It's labelled as 80 grams. The TSA guy wanted to take it away until I said, "Look, the toothpaste tube is 50 mL and it also says 76 g. This little bottle of rubbing alcohol says 2 fluid ounces and 60 mL. That means 80 g must be less than 90 mL." He agreed and let it go. What a stupid system!

Interesting thing in the airport in Cozumel (CZM) was that they had signs up advising everyone of the TSA's rules, and the guy running the X-ray was not confiscating anything. But then at the gate, when it came time to board, the lady making the announcements was saying that NO liquids of ANY size are allowed on board and that passengers could not bring on food or drinks, even those purchased at the airport. Really nice to give people advance notice, huh? They still do gate checks down there, pulling some people out of line and basically doing the SSSS routine. Rule of thumb—never be first in line to board!!! We were in Zone 1 flying first class on US Air and were not subjected to the gate search, thankfully, so our liquids all got through OK, but I'm sure someone got screwed. Seems to me to be highly unreasonable that the signs when you enter the airport imply that the TSA rule applies but then at the gate a stricter rule applies.

Of course, Mexico is not subject to the US rules and in the past has been stricter from time to time (in 2002 they didn't allow batteries or aerosol deodorant in your carry-on), so I post this as a warning to anyone who is heading that way in the near future.

Anyway, back to the original topic—the Giant near my house sells travel-size stuff, including very small toothpaste tubes. I can't confirm the precise size, but they looked smaller than 3 oz the last time I was there.