Bringing baby food through TSA

Question

I will be traveling with my son who's under the age of 2. I saw that the TSA allows to bring a reasonable amount of baby food if you're traveling with children. Is Gerber's Lil' Entrees for toddlers considered baby food? Or I can only bring a jar or pouch of purée?

Flying from US and passing through TSA, tks. I will make sure that my son eats them or throw them away before entering another country, some of them contain meat etc and I know it's not allowed. But can I bring it through TSA?

Answer 1

The "baby food" exception you're referring to is an exception to the standard TSA "3-1-1" liquids rule, which covers not just liquids but also "gels" which would normally include liquid/gelatinous food like much baby food is.

The baby foods exception allows you to bring these items through security, even though they would normally not be allowed under the 3-1-1 rules. ie, these exceptions apply specifically for things that would otherwise not be allowed under the "liquid" rules.

The item you are asking about does not appear to be something that would not be allowed under the 3-1-1 rules. It is not a "liquid", and does not appear to be something that would be considered a "gel". In general, food IS allowed through TSA checkpoints, as long as it does not have a significant liquid/gel component. (For example, a jar of peanut butter is NOT allowed, as it is considered a gel. However a peanut butter sandwich would be allowed due to the limited volume of peanut butter involved).

Thus the item you've linked to WOULD be allowed through a checkpoint - not because of the "baby foods" exception, but simply because there's no reason for it to be otherwise denied.

Note however that this product apparently needs to be microwaved before eating. Airplanes do NOT have microwaves, and finding one in the airport before departure would potentially be difficult. It specifically states "Do not heat in conventional oven" which would rule out aircraft ovens.