MCO inspecting candy in carry ons?

[marcyleecorgan]

Well, good to know for future travels. I will centralize all packaged snack food in the carry-on and try to be mindful that they have to OPEN ziploc bags and look at stuff individually.

 

[japajsm]

Providence had us remove all food items when we travelled on September 24th. We thought we were all set with shoes and electronics in the bins and then they said that all food items had to be put into the bins. I had given each of my 5 grandchildren a bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, which they had put into their backpacks. So, they had to dig through them to put the crackers in a bin. I had a bag that was full of snacks, etc., which I pretty much dumped into a grey bin and had to repack. My DH had pre-check and his bag was searched because he had a few packages of Twizzlers, which looked like a thick block on the screen.

At MCO on September 30th, they didn't have us remove the food items. But, one of my bags went through a second screening because of Twizzlers. I asked the agent what it was about the candy and he said that it is because of the density.

 

[dreamer17555]

Can anyone say if they have needed to remove food items with TSA Pre Check status? Just trying to be prepared.

 

[goofy4tink]

Can anyone say if they have needed to remove food items with TSA Pre Check status? Just trying to be prepared.

Yes. The poster just before you said her dh had precheck and had food removed. Others have reported it as well. No way to know before hand if you'll have to remove stuff. Best to just be prepared.

 

[mb187143]

Late to this party but coming through MCO today was a nightmare. They are pulling bags with any food in it, all electronics have to come out (cell
Phones and tablets which typically can be left in your bag), shoes had to go on the belt and not in a bin, etc.

It was the worst I’ve ever seen it today. So many people waiting in front of the shuttles to the gates for bags that needed “extra screening” to have food items swabbed it was blocking the way to the shuttles. Bags sat waiting for inspection for 20-30 minutes. Definitely not helping the situation at MCO.

 

[quandrea]

I really hate MCO. Worst airport I have ever been to. But a necessary evil I suppose.
Funny, I really love it when I'm arriving.

I said this exact thing to dh today. We were at MCO this morning 4:30 am. The line took 50 min to traverse. Some security lines were pulling food, books. Other lines it was just liquids and anything bigger than a smart phone. They did not pull people out of the line to inspect food. It was busy and frustrating.

To add insult to injury, Starbucks was closed for renovations once we cleared security. No breakfast for us. Dh said he's selling his DVC. Not sure he is completely joking.

So to answer you question--I'd get there early. We arrived two hours in advance and between security, grabbing a few snacks and hitting the washroom, we needed the whole time.

 

[LilyWDW]

Does anyone know if this is just MCO or if other airports are also screening food that was previously ok?

I have two flights coming up, neither are to or from Orlando and I do have TSA Pre Check but I like want to be prepared. I won't have bags of MNSSHP (unfortunately!) but I always bring my own snack, fruit and a sandwich when I fly.

As I posted earlier, I have been requested over the last few months to remove food from my bag in Indianapolis (3 times), Memphis, Tampa, and Philadelphia.

 

[musicluvr40]

We flew home from MCO on Friday, October 20 in the evening. It took us over an hour to get through security. We were told all food/candy and all electronics larger than a cell phone had to be removed from our carry ons and placed in a separate bin. We did this, and our bags were still detained. After going through the line and then picking up our shoes we had to wait ten more minutes to even get an agent to deal with our bags. They took everything out of our bags. I had medications in my bag and I was questioned as to why those were opened. (Um - we are coming home, I took my medicine while on vacation.) Each medication was swabbed individually. My husband had gum in his bag which must have been why it was detained. My daughter is a Type 1 Diabetic, she had to have a patdown because of not being able to go through any scanners/x rays, and she even was finished before we were. I have never seen it like this. We flew out of Cleveland and had snacks and candy in our bags and did not experience anything like this.