TSA Clarification: You Can Take Some Kinds of Cupcakes on Planes

Photo taken from the TSA website; text SFoodie's.

​Thanks to NPR, SFoodie now knows what to pack the next time we plan to drive straight from Kingdom Cake to SFO. On its blog, the federal Transportation Security Agency has just issued some clarifying rules about what kind of cupcakes you can take on a plane.

The agency has come under criticism after Las Vegas TSA officers confiscated cupcakes from a woman flying out of the airport there last month, a scandal so offensive to the American people that it even earned comment on Perez Hilton. The cupcakes had so much frosting, news reports stated, that it was deemed a security risk.

But wait! TSA blogger Bob Burns argues, "This wasn't your everyday, run-of-the-mill cupcake. ... We have a policy directly related to the UK liquid bomb plot of 2006 called 3-1-1 that limits the amount of liquids, gels, and aerosols you can bring in your carry-on luggage. Icing falls under the 'gel' category. As you can see from the picture, unlike a thin layer of icing that resides on the top of most cupcakes, this cupcake had a thick layer of icing inside a jar."

Take note: You are allowed to bring cupcakes on the plane. Just as long as they are not a) cupcakes in a jar, a style that Burns calls "newfangled," and b) you've pre-eaten enough icing off the top so that it doesn't alarm the security officers. Of course, if you're flying out of SFO's terminal 2, you can just pick up a six-pack of Kara's Cupcakes from the Napa Farms Market stand and bypass the TSA altogether.