Pasta is a liquid
 

Gatwick airport last week.

I had picked up some pasta at the M&S Simply Food to cook when I got home that evening and put it in my carryon.

Going through security, the bag gets flagged.

"What's this?"
"Pasta"
"Didn't you read the signs about liquids?"
"Yes, but this is pasta"
"Pasta is a liquid"
"Huh? How is pasta a liquid?"
"You have to add water to cook it. That makes it a liquid"
"I see, may I speak to the Zulu please"

(ed. note : "Zulu" is the callsign for the BAA Security supervisor at Gatwick South)

Zulu is summoned. Thankfully, the duty Zulu knows me casually and we exchange New Year greetings.

"Whats the problem?"
"He's trying to take these liquids through"
"What liquids?"
(holding up package of pasta) "These"
"That's pasta"
"Yes"

Moment of puzzled silence.

"Thats ok, he can take it."

Monty Python couldn't have scripted it any better.

:D:D:D

Is SPAM a liquid too?

According to my contact at the Ministry of Silly Liquids, yes, Spam is indeed a liquid.

Perhaps they would have let me pass were I carrying some shrubbery for them. :D

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Know what I mean?

"Sir, newspapers are prohibited on board."
"Why?"
"Because if you put the newspaper in a blender with a lot of water, it would become a liquid, and that would be prohibited."

sheesh, and here i was thinking that the brits were at least half on the ball when it came to security theatre.....

Nah, chances are it's an evil liberal paper and there could be an article about us in there spun to fit the libs.

So does that mean you can't carry more than 100 grams of cash as currency is considered a liquid asset.

"A shrubbery!!!????"

"Why yes, something very nice; not too expensive....."

:D

Since you knew the supervisor, you should have offered him the box of pasta to club that moron over the head with.

What's next - we can't carry rice because it can be used to make congee?

Don't run with that pasta - somebody's gonna lose an eye!

It's actually more eye-safe when cooked.

Great illustration of the fact lobotomees are hired throughout the world for airport security...

"You have to add water to cook it (pasta.) That makes it a liquid"

Unbe-<censored>-lievable!

You should have told him that the pasta was a fruit and its harvested from the spaghetti tree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_tree

I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

Some great responses in this thread, though. OP, good job getting the screener overruled on his... what's a polite word for "idiocy", again? "Pasta is a liquid." :rolleyes::td:

Hehe. Didn't think the TSO would be familiar with the American Society for Testing and Materials or their pragmatic definition:

ASTM (1996) "D4359-90: Standard Test Method for Determining Whether a Material Is a Liquid or a Solid."
[excerpts]

In: ASTM "Annual Book of ASTM Standards", Section 6, Vol 6.01, pp. 500-501. American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA. ISBN 0803122705 [Set] 0803123094 [Section] 0803123108 [Volume].

[...]

3. Summary of Test Method.

The material under test is held at 100deg.F (38deg.C) in a tightly closed can. The lid is removed and the can inverted. The flow of the material from the can is observed to determine whether it is a solid or a liquid.

[...]

5. Apparatus.

5.1. Can, quart (1L), friction top with lid, diameter approximately 4'1/4 in (108 mm) height 4'3/4 in (120 mm)

5.2. Oven, maintained at temperature of 100deg.F (38deg.C)

5.3. Tripod or ring stand

5.4. Watchglass, tared

5.5. Stopwatch

5.6. Ruler.

[...]

9. Interpretation of results.

9.1. A material that flows a total of 2 in (50 mm) or less within 3 min is considered a solid. Otherwise it is considered a liquid.

Hey, gotta watch for stuff like this.

Uncooked lasagna could be broken into the shape of a knife.

Or that it was a religious item: http://www.venganza.org/

I wonder if instant water is also a liquid? :rolleyes:

Dehydrated water would be considered a liquid. But dry white wine is not. :D

No.

These are the same group whose DfT (Department for Transport) decided that magical liquids could be brewed airside without a laboratory, who have set up a Shoe Carnival at LHR T3 (after WTMD + x-ray) and who allowed BAA to play all their little games like 1 tiny carryon, ridiculous prohibited items list, etc.

Sorry, for all my respect for the folks in the UK, none of it comes from their ability to do anything at all positive with regard to security.

The million dollar question is "would he have stood his ground knowing he was correct"? This assumes no friend of super or super said no.:cool:

Yeah, but it's so brittle and weak that the minute you try to stab someone with it it'll be as dangerous as crushed oyster crackers in your soup. Or if it comes in contact with hot water, it'll be too mushy to stab anyone with it;)

Snickers satisfies, but perhaps not everybody
 

Canadians aren't much better.

This past July, a screener at YUL asked a supervisor whether my mini (like the ones you get at Hallowe'en) Snickers bar in my carryon was considered a liquid.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the supervisor had to think about it for about 15 seconds.

This is what happens when we use our airports as a jobs program for habitual paint huffers.

What if you put it in a blender?

peace,
~Ben~

Was it very warm (i.e., in danger of melting)?

Hmm, now that I think about it, the filling in a Three Musketeers bar is suspiciously gel-like! :eek:

human feces, at least mine, on a bad day, can pass as liquid. if it is worth it to you to create the problems with TSA, i would gladly provide you with half a pound or so of my personal special product in an autographed plastic one quart very very weak plastic baggie.................

if this product takes off, it will no longer be offered at no charge.

Can't be much worse than the occasional tobacco-chewer's "spit bottle" that is relinquished at the checkpoint. EWWWWWW! :mad:

:D That's what I was thinking.

Goodness. I would love to say I am surprised but I am sooo past that point with humanity.

The TSA checker at LAX Terminal 7 seemed to think so; luckily his supervisor did not.

And yes, I had a can of SPAM (Bacon-flavored, to be exact) in my backpack. It's a Hawaiian thing.

You admit that? ;) :D

Good friend of mine from Guam would have done that too - same principle as the Hawaiians. :)

Koreans also love SPAM. I've been eating the stuff since I was a kid and still eat it on occasion (SPAM Light, though - gotta be at least a LITTLE health-conscious). My dad explained to me that the American GI's would give them cans of SPAM to eat when they were migrating south during the Korean War. Apparently, Koreans grew to love the stuff and it's been popular in South Korea ever since.

Always when I travel via Dubai to Bangkok I buy Caviar at Dubai airport.
This fresh caviar is then packed in a cooler box with ice packs which is placed in my carryon, As I’m in the duty free area this is not a problem.
But when I arrive in Bangkok I have to check-in again for my domestic flight.
You have to see the eyes from the x-ray monitor screener when she sees my bag. :D
1 Computer in the carry on
2 Lot of toiletries and not in a separate bag
3 and the caviar in the cooler with the ice bags.
You can understand that my bag is always flagged up for extra inspection.
There they are very interested in the caviar and the ice bags and most of the time I have to explain what caviar is.
When they are finished looking disgusted I’m on my way to the plane with all my stuff. :)
Never had I had any problem with taken it with me.
I think that this would be impossible if I would be flying to the states. :p

I am pleased to report that we got an order of Maggiano's lasagna through security at BNA yesterday without incident.

This forum makes me sad for humanity...but it's not the forum, it's what the forum reports on. This forum and Photography is not a Crime.

given the 'average'* human body contains about 40 liters of water - how on earth does the TSA allow ANYBODY through the checkpoint?? :rolleyes::p:rolleyes:

*given how few 'average' shaped persons I have witnessed in the USA - that figure may be considerably higher.

It's an old thread, but "pasta is a liquid" stands out for me as possibly the dumbest thing airport security (and I'll note that this time, it's NOT the TSA) has ever done. Not the meanest, not the most illegal, not the most immoral, but in the category of "dumber than a bag of hammers", this one takes the prize. :p

""Pasta is a liquid" is a clear sign of a ominous trend towards thinking by TSOs. Thinking, especially creative or critical thinking, is against TSA policy.:p Please remember to check your thought processes before you start your shift."

From the 2011 revised TSA handbook.