WindOfFreedom

Today, by dint of heroic personal effort, my nearly-99-year-old mother managed to fly, unaccompanied, from ONT through PDX to MFR, to see my new abode. As she asked me this evening for some baking soda to ease her digestive system, she confided that the valiant defenders of our personal safety in ONT had taken away her digestive yogurt, clearly marked Activia. She says the person pushing her wheelchair had opined, in disgust, referring to the courageous TSA defender of public safety who confiscated--er, allowed her to surrender--her food, "He probably wanted to eat it himself."

Now, I ask you: What POSSIBLE threat to the nation's security was occasioned by this wee, very old lady's (clearly labeled) digestive yogurt?

What cretins!

No wonder this entire agency is a laughingstock.

cordelli

Was it over three ounces?

If so it's not allowed.

Anybody can label anything Activia, or put it in the container. It's sort of why they have the 3 ounce rule in place.

Edited to add

While the rule is generally referred to as the three ounce rule, or referred to generally as 3-1-1, because some people feel the need to correct it, I am fully aware that it's 100 mls, not only 3 fluid ounces, which works out to be 3.38 fluid ounces. I don't know why they didn't call it the 3.38 ounce rule, or why they did not call it the 3.3814 - 1 - 1 system.

It's my bad for not being more specific and confusing anybody.

Sorry.

Yoshi212

I got my mother's made for diabetics yogurt through TSA security by pushing it as a medical fluid. They swabbed the container without opening any of them. I had to politely push and ask for the supervisor (who was never called) and they relented.

jaymar01

You should consider yourself lucky.

If the ONT TSA had called in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for backup, she would have been shot.

WindOfFreedom

Precisely why I no longer fly.

WindOfFreedom

Yeah, sure. A feeble little bent-over old lady. Big national security threat. Get a grip.

NameCoin

Wait a second. What about the TSA policy on "Medically Necessary Liquids"?

RadioGirl

How dare you question the medical expertise of TSA employees! They've had a whole 20 minutes of training on what is, and is not, medically necessary for any Citizen with any particular medical condition. Your so-called "doctors" and "nurses" and "pharmacists" are no match for the wisdom of TSA's finest!



And you know, they're the ones who think that "three ounces" is the same as 3.4

IceTrojan

Anyone can put any substance into a 10 oz bottle of contact solution, declare it at screening as a medically necessary non-prescription liquid, and get through with it. It's sort of why they have a 3 ounce rule that's useless.

RadioGirl

Please, don't insult hardworking honest cretins by comparing them to TSA employees.

For your mom's return trip, get some really clean <3.4 ounce jars and divide the yogurt into them.

Or buy a label maker and put a sticker on the Activia package that says "Net wt 2.8 ounces". @:-)

WindOfFreedom

Now THERE is a useful idea. Thank you, Radio Girl!

MichaelKade

Or just put it in a zip lock. I've found that putting (obviously) oversized liquids in the zip lock somehow makes them invisible to the screener.

BubbaLoop

Another example of the TSA making persons less safe. Your mother should not have had digestive distress as a result of having her yoghurt taken away from her.

gobluetwo

Did you check the shops post-security? Many brands of yogurt have live active culture, not just activia.

Carl Johnson

Medical liquids are allowed in any quantity. The clerks are too lazy and stupid to follow the rules. And, of course, the liquid rule has nothing to do with security - there is no threat of liquid explosives on an airplane, and there never was any threat.