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TSA tells mom “go away” after confiscating baby formula

August 23, 2007

Who is the Transportation Security Administration protecting us from? Crissy Tuning’s three-month-old son? Yes, specifically, his “dangerous” formula.

It’s official: the liquid and gel ban has now been taken too far. And after you hear Tuning’s story, I think you’ll agree.

But first, a little context. The TSA now says lighters and breast milk can be carried on a plane, even though its reasons are fuzzy. But apparently artificial breast milk — better known to us as infant formula — is not safe.

So here’s what happened to Tuning. She showed up in Albuquerque, NM, for her flight, along with her baby and a bottle containing about two ounces of formula. Sorry, the TSA agent said, that’s not allowed before confiscating her child’s meal. The formula has to be “sealed,” she was told.

Which left Tuning with a big problem. What do you feed your three-month-old son on a 10-hour flight?

She asked the TSA agent. “That’s not my problem,” he said, encouraging her to “go away,” according to Tuning.

“We have never been treated so rudely,” she said. “My son had to go 10 hours without formula. On one of the planes, a flight attendant gave us some apple juice which we diluted with water. We feel that if they away something like formula they should at least sell it in the airport or provide it to people on the aircraft. We were appalled!”

I am appalled, too.

I would really like to speak with the “expert” who told the TSA that baby formula was dangerous, but breast milk wasn’t. I’d like to know if the TSA has ever considered using common sense at its checkpoints. Bottled water is not a dangerous explosive, and a simple sniff test or swig from the bottle should be enough to verify that.

The government has kept almost every detail of the liquid “threat” from the public. It’s time to come clean about it — or lift the ban.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

26 comments

  • Lenny

    That’s weird what happened to the lady with the baby formula. The TSA agent was probably misinformed about the rules for formula. There is no requirement that the formula be sealed in any way.
    http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/formula.shtm

    Tuning should have asked to see a supervisor or a more senior TSA agent who was familiar with the rules.

    Incidentally, did you know that a high school diploma is NOT a requirement to be a TSA screener?

  • Chicky

    Just when I think I’ve heard everything… I’d have been tempted to have told that agent it WAS real breast milk. Would he have tasted it to find out? Hehehe.

    Until the TSA wakes up, it would be helpful if baby formula companies pre-packaged 3-ounce portions of their liquid formula specifically for travelers. Mom could store an empty bottle in the diaper bag. Not ideal, perhaps, but better than nothing, until someone wench-slaps the TSA and gives them a big ol’ bottle (MUCH larger than 3 ounces!) of “common sense” tonic.

  • James Thompson

    To Chicky…she stated she only had about two ounces of baby formula so your plan to have it in three ounce portions would do no good either. Looks like another “I’m in power, do as I say!” to me. We need to make these TSA people federal employees and not airline/airport employees. Give them the pay and benefits and send them to schooling as you would any other law enforcement officer. Put them through the same scrutiny you would any other law enforcement officer, too.

  • Janet

    It is absurd that the TSA confiscated the infant’s bottle,which contained formula,but I also find it hard to believe that this mother had a 10 hr flight ahead of her and did not have any more unopened baby formula with her.

  • Lee

    Why not just go back to conveinance security. That way Americans can do whatever they want. Once you start making exceptions it gets very complicated. So much for keep it simple stupid.

    It is not like the liquid ban is new. A call or web site visit may have prevented this. Maybe airline shops can view this as an opportunity.

    I used to have a job that was customer facing. You will not believe the crap people will try to because they believe they are entitled.

    Hey TSA employees have a job to do. Which is enforcing rules that may or may not make sense. Rules they do not create. If they want to keep their jobs they enforce the rules the best they can.

  • Kevin Morgan

    For James Thompson: I hate to break this to you, but the TSA *is* a federal agency and the employees *are* federal employees. The feds took over airport security some months after 9/11 and these are not “airline” or “airport” employees at all.

    And that, unfortunately, is part of the problem. When you combine relatively low education (on average), enormous power, a federal badge, limited training, a set of policies that make no sense as a coherent whole, and an administration determined to keep anything secret that it can unless forced to divulge it, this is what you end up with: a system where if the traveler raises a stink, he’ll almost certainly be hauled away for questioning, miss his flight, be warned never to be disruptive again, and probably end up on the “secondary screening” list for life.

    A screener who broke the rules to allow a mother to carry the formula on would probably get ratted out by another employee or caught by a supervisor and forced to endure more “training”, not to mention probably being suspended for a day or something like that. And it may surprise you to know that while theyse aren’t commissioned law enforcement officers, many of them are paid pretty damned well–it was the old airline/airport screeners who were paid minimum wage or a little better.

    The answer is, unfortunately, not coming for a while. We have an administration which has bet its entire political capital, and then some, plus hundreds of billions of dollars, on the idea that we have to keep American fliers safe from terrorists. So we go through this security charade because if we don’t, and another attack happens… well, it won’t be pretty.

  • Kathy

    My question about this is it seems that 2 ounces for a 10 hour flight is a insufficient amount anyway for a baby. What was this mother’s plan when that small amount ran out? I think that there is more to this story – or the mother was just ill prepared on more than one dimension.

  • Helen

    I had mascara taken from me and thrown into a trash can. Asked to see a supervisor…he said it was against the law to remove anything from a trash can. The mascara was lying right on top in plain sight…having been there for 2-3 min. While the 6 ft 2 in. 250 lb. FEMALE with the tiny bit of power, felt that this 76 yr. old woman with a 1/2 used tube of mascara, must have been a major threat. She was snide and rude, heady with ‘power’. What a waste of time and effort. Must have made her day!

  • Doug

    Chris –

    A very similar incident happened with my family more than two years ago at the Denver airport. Our boys, nearly 3 years old and 16 months old at the time, had to have their sippy cups x-rayed. Each cup was filled with either juice or milk at the time. It was nuts.

    And what made it more crazy is that these “rules” are not applied at all airports. So Denver was screening sippy cups while our home airport, O’Hare, wasn’t. You’d think TSA could figure out some consistency.

    Here’s what I suggest — All TSA agents must be parents. And if they haven’t flown across country — or spent at least four hours on an airplane with their own baby — then they’re unqualified to become TSA agents and their application should be rejected.

    Or, better yet, if the TSA agent forces a parent to get rid of whatever is in a child’s bottle or sippy cup, the TSA agent then must accompany the parents and/or parent on the flight. They’ll be required to assist mom and/or dad in keeping the child calm and quiet because they, after all, forced the child to go without food and drink.

    This way mom and/or dad — or both parents — will be able to tell their fellow passengers who’s to blame for the screaming child.

  • Victoria

    Yes it is completely absurd that you can take breast milk but not formula. However, this mom needed to do a little more planning. I’m taking my 4mo old on his first flight tomorrow and I’ll be packing an EMPTY baby bottle and POWDERED formula. I’ll get some water from the flight attendant and then I’ll have plenty of formula (to mix fresh when needed) for my baby and I won’t have to worry about being hassled by TSA or worry about what to do if the formula was taken away.

    And, yeah—how was 2 oz going to go for 10 hours?? She’s leaving something out.

  • Brooks

    The TSA employees are well paid. They also receive excellent benefits. Furthermore, unlike many of the road warriors who some of them hastle, TSA employees have the luxury of working a 40 hour week.

    In the past month, I have been through security several dozen times in 4 countries (Korea, Japan, China, and the US). In my opinion, the TSA exhibit the most rudeness and are the least attentive. The contrast is even greater when you compare the TSA to Israeli security. I have been in and out of Ben Gurion Airport 17 times, both before and after 9-11. In all those trips, I was impressed by the proffessionalism of Israeli security. I also never found an Isaeli securiy officer who had the arrogance which I have observed all too often from the TSA.

  • screwtheliberals

    Are nearly all people this stupid!!!! No, not all TSA employees are federal employees. Check the TSA website and it will tell you that Airports can “opt out” of having federal TSA employees and use contract employees (http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2004/press_release_0412.shtm). Bad thing is these people wear the same uniform as Federal TSA employees. Do they receive the same training, held to the same standards??? It ways they do in the story, but who knows. I know the one time I had a more than minor run in with a screener who didn’t know the rules it was at an opt out airport that had contract employees wearing TSA uniforms.

    And yes they do have at least a high school education, check out the job listing on usajobs.com. No, they don’t write the rules. Yes they sometimes make mistakes, especially when the rules change so frequently. Yes they all have supervisors, and you can ask to talk with one if you don’t like what you hear from the screener you’re currently dealing with regarding any issue. And the supervisors have bosses you can ask to talk to if you don’t like that answer!

    You alway encourage the travelers to know the rules regarding airline policy, what about know the rules about tsa policy? They have a one page sheet that lists their rules that they update quite regularly. I’ve started printing it out and carrying it with me when I fly. When a screener tries to tell me that one of my items is “prohibited” I politely pull out my one page reference and ask them to show me where it is listed. I’ve done this once and they apologised and said they were wrong.

    oh, and Brooks, maybe the reason that you’ve never met an arrogant Israeli security officer is that most people are not belligerent whining baboons to an ARMED security officer. Try dealing with some of the ignorance and whining I’ve seen while traveling, then deal with it on a day to day basis and see if you don’t get tired of it.

  • Crissy Tuning

    To clarify things, we did have a canister of formula with us but since it was not “sealed ” it also was taken away. We called ahead and were assured we could take 2 oz. of liquid with us on the aircraft as well as a canister of formula. No one ever sepcified the canister must be “sealed”.

  • Bill

    I hope there was a good reason for that mother to get where she was going. That TSA agent was a good deal more polite than I would have been to a mother taking a 3 month old on a 10 hour flight! I hope the kid puked on her multiple times during take off.

  • BadKarma

    Hey, Bill… I flew on a cross-country flight for the first time when I was TWO MONTHS OLD, jackass. Amazingly enough, I somehow survived that flight, as I did all the subsequent cross-country flights I went on before the age of 3.

    Of course, that was decades before Nanny-morons like you declared anything of which you, personally, disapprove to be “child abuse”; and back when parents were allowed to bring the items necessary to care for their children on the flight without being put on a “terror suspect” list by the megalomaniac quota-hires of the TSA.

    Oh, and to all the “Bushophobes” who for some reason believe anything will get better “when Saint Hillarovna is elected”? One word: WACO.

  • http://cultureonthecheap.wordpress.com Olivia Giovetti

    Well thank G-d breast milk is legal. Otherwise you would have a whole slew of new moms pumping right before the security checkpoint so as not to carry and contraband in their C-cups.

    Between the dress codes on Southwest, Nipple Ring-gate, and the formula regulations, I’ve come to the conclusion that if you have large breasts and you want to fly, chances are you’re going to get screwed.

    Come to think of it, if you have large breasts, chances are you’ll get screwed either way…

  • Ed Lawrence

    Last year I went to Israel on business. When I boarded the plane for my return trip to the states via Frankfurt, I was surprised that I was allowed to carry a bottle of water onto the plane. I also didn’t have to remove my shoes. When I got to Frankfurt and went through security again, the water was confiscated and I had to remove my shoes. I guess those pesky terrorists aren’t out to get Israeli planes, just planes from the USA and UK.

  • Bryan Smith

    I fly plenty. I notice that they don’t have standard operating procedures, or a good, thorough training regimen. They have idiots. I use a CPAP machine to breathe at night. They told me at one airport that I should take it out for the XRAy so that they don’t have to use the IONSCANNER on it. Then the next airport says I should leave it in the bag, only to have it IONSCANNED with the same dirty swab they used on the last eight pairs of shoes. I started telling them to use a new one. Just think, a dirty swab being swabbed all over the thing. Then they become suspicious because I am actually in good shape. Turns out, I was seriously injured when I was younger. Can’t breathe good at night. But like I said, they don’t have a good training program, they fail to maintain any kind of standards from one airport to another. Oh, and I really hate the guy or gal that always yelling at me to take all kinds of stuff out of my bag. Really unnerves me.

  • Colin

    @Bill: wow you are rude…some people HAVE to travel…we are canadian citizens with us green cards, we have to go to the us every half year (dads job is managing the company in asia) due to some rule that you have to enter at least every 6 months…

  • Jack Bauer

    Bill, you’re an idiot, alongside many TSA dip-wads.

    Oh, and Kip Hawley is an idiot.

  • Cathy

    We experienced the same harrassment at several airports over traveling with sealed 8 oz. bottles of baby formula. Every airport stated different restrictions, even though we were told when we called TSA that we were allowed 100 oz. of sealed bottles of formula. How do you get TSA to provide the requirements in writing?

  • helen

    Bill is an idiot.
    People don’t always fly with babies by choice.
    My three flew the first time when they were 4 years ,2 years, and 6 months old. My mother was dying 1200 miles away and there was no one to leave them with. (Their father? His work came first, second, third and fourth.) And yes, the 6 month old puked all over me. Are ya happy?

  • Joshua

    These agents have no idea what it is like to travel with chilren- I am a nanny for someyears and airports have become an occupational hazzrd- in that as mention the formular is confiscated- the buggy is taken apart x-rayed as is the toys & everything else- I travel frequently with 3 young children. Airport agents are the most inconsiderate people on the planet- not only do I have to redress 3 children & myself- I have also to manage 3 children in a crowd while trying to reassemble a buggy – to hear”move on” or “clear the way” does not help- they create the situation, then expect miricles to happen- IT Does NOT happen as if by MAGIC- just an idea- why not have a que for parents/ care givers???

  • barbie45

    Chris, would you please not permit people from personally attacking people whose comments differ from their own. Calling people idiots, stupid, prejudice etc. are incendiary and just rude. People such as Carver and Arizona who often have extensive knowledge due to legal expertise and extensive research plus considerable travel experiences both for business and pleasure have never resorted to personal attacks. They may disagree, but they do it in a polite fashion.which is often backed up by facts not opinions. Chris you are the most exemplary of all.

  • barbie45

    Bill, I agree with you. There was no reason for anyone to verbally abuse you. My niece who works with premature babies at risk just had her own baby. She refuses to fly with her infant until she is at least a year or more.

  • Duke Nukem

    @barbie45
    Verbal abuse? Lady, you better re-define your terms…Mr. TSA Bill would engage in verbal abuse on a whim, and you AGREE with him? Sounds like Michael Chertoff ain’t the only one on hte payroll….(wink wink)

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