SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif — Is it your turn to bring the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Well, before you head to the airport with those special ingredients in your carry-on luggage, you need to know what you can and can't bring through a security checkpoint.
Data from AAA reports more than 4.5 million people will travel by air, with the highest number of travelers leaving on the Sunday and Monday after Thanksgiving.
According to the Transportation Security Administration, most foods can be carried through a checkpoint - as long as it's a solid item.
Below is a list of the most common food items that people asked about, according to the TSA.
Thanksgiving foods that can be carried through a TSA checkpoint
- Baked goods. Homemade or store-bought pies, cakes, cookies, brownies and other sweet treats
- Meats. Turkey, chicken, ham, steak. Frozen, cooked or uncooked
- Stuffing. Cooked, uncooked, in a box or in a bag
- Casseroles. Traditional green beans and onion straws or something more exotic
- Mac ‘n Cheese. Cooked in a pan or traveling with the ingredients to cook it at your destination,
- Fresh vegetables. Potatoes, yams, broccoli, green beans, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, beets, radishes, carrots, squash, greens
- Fresh fruit. Apples, pears, pineapple, lemons, limes, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas.
- Candy
- Spices
Thanksgiving foods that should be packed in checked baggage
- Cranberry sauce. Homemade or canned are spreadable, so check them. Check bag foods
- Gravy. Homemade or in a jar/can.
- Wine, champagne, sparking apple cider.
- Canned fruit or vegetables. It’s got liquid in the can, so check them.
- Preserves, jams and jellies. They are spreadable, so best to check them.
- Maple syrup
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