Cheese is dangerous and confiscated - in France!
 

Just had the most surreal security checkpoint experience of my flying career so far, where French cheese was declared a liquid at CDG, and confiscated as a result. We thought at first it was the ceramic bowls it was contained in they were objecting to - but no, they were ok, they even offered to give us those back (I had walked off in disgust at this point, I'd have probably said yes out of devilment if I'd heard that offer :D). It was the actual cheese itself which was apparently too dangerous. A very nice St Felicien.

Cheese... in France... is considered too dangerous to be allowed to fly :confused:

To add to the confusion, it was of course widely available airside, and we even got served cheese sandwiches on the plane :confused:

They wanted to eat it. There is no other explanation.

We watched them throw it in the bin.

I had exactly the same experience several years ago.

Runny cheese (brie, camembert, etc) are not allowed, but if you had a Mimolette or Picodin you would have been fine.

My Gouda wasn't runny.

Brie or camembert are not runny :confused:

Since it was in bowls, I'm guessing it was spreadable??

The rules are pretty clear - something you can spread is considered a "liquid" and not allowed.

A block of cheddar is fine, grind it up and turn it into a spread and it isn't, as I found out during the great Pimento Cheese incident at Charleston.

You can spread butter.... You can spread pate. I had a Reblechon in my checked bags, and that was fine, but it becomes dangerous when in my hand bag? (and yes, I know that applies to all liquids also).

I could have bought a related cheese in the duty free (at twice the price) - did that undergo additional security checks that my hand luggage did not? Afterall, my cheese was looked at individually - do security take out every single cheese and check them before they are sold in the shops? Were the cheese sandwiches we had on board (or some had on board) given extra scrutiny since one of them was a cream cheese?

No, the rules are not clear. And as someone said, their Gouda was confiscated.

We know it's stupid. I'm venting. But please don't try to defend a rule which we all know is stupid.

And of course, this just defies belief in the country where some of the best cheese in the world is made. It's like when LGW refused to allow cans of haggis to go through because they might be a liquid...

I suppose you could have eaten it all at once and converted it from 'liquid' to gas in front of the screeners; that would teach them!

Moe, Larry, the cheese
Moe, Larry, the cheese

(ok, I'll head to the penalty box now)

I can't help thinking of the episode of I Love Lucy in which Lucy is trying to bring a large cheese back from Europe. She smuggles it aboard the plane wrapped in a blanket, claiming that it's a baby. Later she starts to fear that U.S. customs won't allow it and might even lock her up, so she and Vivian try to eat all of it.

I would have asked for a baguette and started dining.

"Liquids" probably also includes creams and gels, as they do in the US. Brie and camembert, while not runny, are creamy, closer to philly cream cheese than to a stick of butter.

And you're wasting your virtual breath preaching to the choir. I think most, if not all, of us agree that the security rules are logically inconsistent and more theater than anything else, but we have to live by them.

Lucy, you got a lot of splain' to do. :eek: