Let’s be honest: There are few things as infuriating and heartbreaking as hearing a TSA officer tell you something in your carry-on isn’t allowed to make it past security. Whether it’s the expensive bottle of perfume you bought on vacation, a brand new water bottle that you haven’t even opened yet, or a pair of nail scissors you forgot to toss back into your checked luggage before zipping it up, not following the strict TSA carry-on luggage rules usually results is the same outcome: your stuff going in the trash.
However, out of all the surprising things you can’t bring through TSA, there’s one specific food restriction that’s caused quite a stir with dessert-loving travelers — and it’s all to do with frosting. The debate reached a new level of media and public attention during 2012’s infamous Cupcakegate scandal, when a TSA agent in Las Vegas put down a hard “no” and confiscated a traveler’s cupcake in a jar for having too much frosting (if that’s even a thing).
At the end of the day, frosting falls under the TSA’s definition of a liquid or gel (the same one most of us learned back in elementary school) because it takes the shape of its container. This also applies to spreadable goods like peanut butter (yes, it’s a liquid), creamy dips (yes, they’re considered a liquid too), and that side of guac you’d been saving to enjoy a little later (yep, TSA considers guacamole a liquid as well). This ultimately means that any separate container of frosting (the key word here is separate) that you try to bring through security will be subject to the standard 3.4-ounce limit that’s enforced on all your other items.
How to ensure you get to keep your frosting (and eat it too)
