Comments on: TSA’s 3-1-1 rule

By: Lani Teshima

Lani Teshima — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:33:18 +0000

Andrew and Jibba — The information about juice is related specifically to their consumption by babies as part of their food supply. The tips in the post are direct quotes from the TSA’s Web site (link).

Interestingly enough, from the time I posted the entry and today, they have quietly removed “juice” from the sentence. If you take a look, the sentence is identical except for that.

However, the TSA now has a full page devoted specifically to breast milk, baby food, and juice, in quantities larger than 3 ounces (link).

The most relevant portion is as follows:

When traveling with your infant or toddler, in the absence of suspicious activity or items, greater than 3 ounces of baby formula, breast milk, or juice are permitted through the security checkpoint in reasonable quantities for the duration of your itinerary, if you perform the following:

1. Separate these items from the liquids, gels, and aerosols in your quart-size and zip-top bag.
2. Declare you have the items to one of our Security Officers at the security checkpoint.
3. Present these items for additional inspection once reaching the X-ray. These items are subject to additional screening.

So the policy is definitely not that juice in large quantities can be brought indiscriminantly. It has to be part of the baby’s diet for the part of the trip that involves air travel, and it cannot be packed in with the rest of the liquid bottles. If you are not traveling with a baby or toddler you would not be allowed at all.

By: jibba

jibba — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:33:28 +0000

Lani, my experience is the same as Andrew’s. I have never seen a bottled drink of any kind allowed. In fact, they’ll have a garbage can right at the check and boarding gates where the inspections are being made. I’ve seen people throw out unopened bottles of juice and water that they just bought to take on the flight.

By: Lani

Lani — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:38:05 +0000

If you’re talking about the quote from TSA about juice, it falls under the “baby food” section. From what I can tell, it’s specifically having to do with medical issues or with feeding baby. So a regular traveler would not be allowed to do so unless they were diabetic and they had a note from the doctor. And you’d have to declare it separately and have them hand-inspect.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:06:20 +0000

Lani, what’s your source for the statement that juice is allowed through security? I’ve yet to find a TSA flunky who will allow any sort of bottled beverage.

We were quite pleased to discover that contact lens solution doesn’t count towards the 3-1-1 allotment.