We are not sure who would be planning to bring peanut butter on their next vacation but if you are the type to travel with some, this story is aimed directly at you.
For many of us, this is not going to be a major concern. We have never found ourselves so worried about peanut butter availability that we started packing it in our luggage but to each their own.
The Transportation Security Administration’s latest decision is sure to hit the peanut butter addicts right where they live, though. They have reclassified peanut butter and now consider it to be a liquid. This means that you cannot be stashing it in your luggage.
TSA even took to its Twitter account, so that they could provide a friendly reminder to anyone who did not know.
You may not be nuts about it, but TSA considers your PB a liquid. In carry-on, it needs to be 3.4oz or less. Make sure all your travel-sized liquids fit in one quart-sized bag. #PeanutButter pic.twitter.com/4RzDv3Up7B
— TSA (@TSA) March 21, 2023
As it turns out, you can still bring some in your carry on but you will need to make sure that you are adhering to the requirements that they have put into place. You can still bring peanut butter with you but only if you have 3.4 ounces or less. “You may not be nuts about it, but TSA considers your PB a liquid,” they wrote on their Twitter account. “In carry-on, it needs to be 3.4oz or less. Make sure all your travel-sized liquids fit in one quart-sized bag. #PeanutButter.”
The message was even accompanied by a photo of peanut butter, in hopes of truly driving the message home. “Peanut butter… a liquid has no definite shape and takes a shape dictated by its container.”
While this may seem like an arcane new rule, the TSA claims that it has actually been in effect for two decades now. “TSA classifies items that you can spill, spread, spray, pump or pour as needing to be 3.4 ounces or smaller to fit into a 3-1-1 bag,” said TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein, according to Reader’s Digest. “There has been no change in the categorization of any of these items, including peanut butter, which is a spreadable and thus falls under the 3.4-ounce limit.”
They went on to note that the “categorization was established in 2006,” so “there has been no change since this rule was established.”
Solid foods, including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, are allowed in carry-on bags with no quantity limitations or packing requirements.
— AskTSA (@AskTSA) March 25, 2023
If you’re looking for an easy loophole, TSA did share on Twitter that peanut butter is allowed “with no quantity limitations or packing requirements” if it’s spread onto bread, like in a sandwich.
It might not make sense but hey, if you need your peanut butter fix, it’s good to know you can pack it on bread!