The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is prepared for Thanksgiving travel and expects that this may be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record. TSA is projected to screen 18.3 million people from Tuesday, Nov. 26 to Monday, Dec. 2, representing a volume increase of approximately 6 percent from this time last year. Passenger volumes have reached record highs in 2024, with an increase of 17 percent since 2022. TSA projects the three busiest travel days will be the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after the holiday.
But before you agree to bring a family favorite food item to contribute to the Thanksgiving holiday table, it’s important to think about how you’re planning to transport it if you are flying to spend the holiday with family or friends. Most foods can be carried through a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint, but there are some items that will need to be transported in checked baggage.
Here’s some food for thought. If it’s a solid item, then it can go through a checkpoint. However, if you can spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it, and it’s larger than 3.4 ounces, then it should go in a checked bag.
Food items often need some additional security screening, so it is best to place those items in an easily accessible location of the carry-on when packing them and then removing those items from your bag and placing them in a bin for screening at the checkpoint.
Unsure if an item should be packed in a carry-on bag, checked bag, either or neither? Download the free myTSA app, which has a handy “What can I bring?” feature that allows you to type in the item to find out if it can fly. Or ask on Twitter or Facebook Messenger at @AskTSA. Travelers may send a question by texting “Travel” to AskTSA (275-872).
Here are examples of the most asked questions about which food items are permissible through a checkpoint and which ones need to get packed in checked baggage. It is also important to remember food safety by storing the food properly while traveling to prevent foodborne illness. If you need to keep items cold during your trip, ice packs are permissible, but they must be frozen solid and not melted when they go through security screening. Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also has recommendations on holiday food safety.
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, kiwi.
- Candy.
- Spices.
Thanksgiving foods that should be carefully packed with your checked baggage
- Cranberry sauce. Homemade or canned are spreadable, so check them.
- 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.
