TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - Next time you pack a carry-on, you’ll want to be aware of a sticky situation: The Transportation Security Administration considers peanut butter a liquid. A TSA post on X is reigniting a social media storm.
“Peanut butter is technically a Bingham Plastic (a subset of non-Newtonian fluids), but under ASTM D4359-90 it is classified as a liquid, not a solid. The TSA considers the nut spread a liquid, but is unrestricted if it is a sandwich ingredient,” wrote the TSA social media team. 22-million views and thousands of snarky comments later, the TSA added, “Peanut Butter is a liquid. We said what we said.”
So this is no “smear” campaign. The TSA defines a liquid as something that “has no definite shape and takes a shape dictated by its container.” It’s similar to toothpaste, which is also limited. That means, as with all travel-sized liquids, it must fit in one quart-sized bag.
As you might imagine, many travelers are not “nuts” about the policy. One person on X said they did actually have to “surrender a big jar of JIF!” TSA agents have caught people trying to sneak guns through security in jars of peanut butter.
The TSA also posted a caveat: Peanut butter is not regulated if it’s in a solid food, like a sandwich. To further clarify, the TSA requires any item you can “spread, spray, or spill” to be three point four ounces or less and must fit in that quart bag.
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