Rebecca Hains, Passenger, Says TSA Confiscated Cupcake At Las Vegas Airport, Deemed It A Security Risk

Traveling during the holidays can be stressful enough, and now passengers might not be able to indulge in homemade baked goods while waiting to board their planes.

A woman flying from Las Vegas to Boston said a TSA officer confiscated the cupcake she had in her carry-on after he deemed it a security risk, according to Boston's WCVB News.

Rebecca Hains told the agent that she and the cupcake-in-a-jar were able to pass through security at Boston's Logan International Airport without a problem, but the agent allegedly insisted the frosting on the cupcake was too "gel-like" because it "[conformed] to its container."

In a piece on Boing Boing, Hains recounts what happened next:

At this, I offered to scoop my dangerously conformist cupcake out of its jar and place it in a zip-lock bag, where it could mush about to its heart's content; but Agent [REDACTED] wisely refused. After all, the jar in all its tasty glory "clearly contains more than 3 ounces of total contents," he said.

On its website, the TSA states it understands people want to bring home some of their favorite foods. Most items, such as jellies, wine and sauces, are fine to fly with as long as passengers properly package them inside a checked bag, the New York Daily News points out.

However, the TSA does note: "You can bring pies and cakes through the security checkpoint, but please be advised that they are subject to additional screening."

A TSA spokesperson told the Daily News that the incident was unusual. The cupcake company is reportedly shipping Hains some free goodies to hold her over as the claim is investigated, WCVB reports.

And apparently Hains isn't the only person having trouble getting her baked goods back home.

A couple who was flying to Florida from New York thinks a TSA officer sneaked a taste of a chocolate cake that was packed in a checked bag, the Palm Beach Post reports.

However, a TSA spokesperson reviewed the video and did not find that any item "resembling a cake" was removed from the baggage at any time, according to the Palm Beach Post.

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Comments

[jingles91214]

11:40 AM on 01/02/2012

CUPCAKES are DANGEROUS weapons...those things have been clogging up arteries for decades...BAN ALL CUPCAKES.....

[Davi Car]

10:17 PM on 12/28/2011

If we all boycott air travel because of TSA, they'll sweep them out of there real quick. It is time for the people to take this into their own hands.

This is W.'s legacy. He is to blame for this.

[Davi Car]

10:13 PM on 12/28/2011

I wonder how those TSA jackasses sleep at night. Normally I am sympathetic to the working stiff, being one myself and all. But I wouldn't take a job like that even not taking it meant that I would be broke and living under a bridge somewhere, eating out of trash cans.

[2question]

08:31 PM on 12/28/2011

"You can bring pies and cakes through the security checkpoint, but please be advised that they are subject to additional screening."

Yah... screening for deliciousness.

[Ossit]

02:28 AM on 12/28/2011

I don't recall saying that I'm content with that, merely pointing out that that's how the news and people's minds work.

How you perceive minds work, Veluriel. Some actually think independently of propaganda and settling with less. Yes I am passionate and no, I'm not yelling at you. If I did I'd say it all in caps
and I'm not that rude. Am I mis attribution my own perceptions on you? I work on nothing but what you provide. I think I do effect change BY speaking out. BY pointing out how people are complacent. What people do with that, I don't control. Hey, until people stop being complacent, I'll stop"screaming from the rooftops"

I refuse to "work with the rest of civilization" by sitting silently.I do more than just blow steam. There are a lot of things I won't do because the herd mentality says. I don't hate who I'm told, I don't worship the Military like I'm told, I don't agree with TSA who can be stopped who are power hungry. I don't hate people for being themselves. But complacency and settling bothers me. Weak? Why not point it out when someone says jump and they say how high? Speaking up and not being part of the herd hasn't stigmatized me from most nor do I have "permanant lonliness" that you expect and hope. Needing others I've got no problem with. Following the herd mentality with no independent thought bothers me when I read it.

[ThinkCreeps]

12:41 AM on 12/28/2011

I'll bet it was a chocolate cupcake.

[GibbsSlap]

10:57 PM on 12/27/2011

TSA tried that with me once. Having experience with the guards at the Mexican boarder I knew what to do. I dumped the product in the trash and mashed it up--if they want to eat my stuff they will have to earn it.

[Aldyth]

10:25 AM on 12/27/2011

Not only was that cupcake a security risk, but it was delicious.

Thanks to the TSA for putting their lives on the line to protect the passengers.

[adamben]

09:56 AM on 12/27/2011

i think it is high time someone tested the theory that the tsa agents eat the food that the confiscate by putting exlaw in them and have someone come by later to see how many run for the john.

[rikster]

08:29 PM on 12/26/2011

they needed an snack.. I once had an eggplant parmigiana hero confiscated....they needed lunch...

[FR 101]

05:12 PM on 12/26/2011

Who wouldn't want to take some sweet cupcakes for free?

[LONDON3]

03:24 PM on 12/26/2011

Darn those dangerous cupcakes,......REALLY!!!! WTF .....wow

[mlaiuppa]

02:50 PM on 12/26/2011

Some TSA brownshirt was hungry and wanted some free food.

I'll bet they steal too.

[Ossit]

10:36 AM on 12/26/2011

Another dumb move by paranoic TSA, another compliant Sheeple, more excuses for Sheeple to rationalize taking a cupcake. Next thing you know, you'll be told how to breathe. If you don't do it 'right' you're a security risk. When are people going to make this stop! Oh gee, they're being lax on kids. Big deal! Kids shouldn't be put through anything, much less be considered now semi-terrorists by having rules slightly lax and they'll STILL find a way to make it a scary experience. It's pathetic how compliant Sheeple parents are when their kids are subjected to this nonsenseNot one terrorist has used a kid but it doesn't matter. Kids are still put through heck, old people are put through heck, and Sheeple comply then go home and yell because they're afraid to say no more! 10 years is enough of this garbage of being considered an automatic terrorist, "random" checks which is nothing more than baseless targeting so TSA can rationalize it, dirty minded TSA workers that make nasty comments about people and think they're so clever, scanner people making a buck off paranoia, people saying to others if you don't like it, don't fly, when people shouldn't have to be 'scared' away to another alternative like driving or train riding that TSA will find a way to interfere with eventually which will be complacently acceptable.

Paranoia sucks as bad as Sheeple compliance.

[Veluriel]

12:05 AM on 12/27/2011

I'm not going to argue in favor of the TSA, I agree that they're paranoid and often arbitrary in their decisions.

But they hold the power. When people are going to fly, they have no choice but to abide by the TSA and the TSA's decisions if they want to fly because the TSA can simply turn around and say, okay, you can't fly, goodbye.

Is this fair? Is it right? I don't think so. But it's hard to tell people to "fight the system" and cease being "sheeple" when their ability to travel could be compromised. Want to visit your Dad in the hospital across the country? Don't piss off the TSA or they'll prevent you from flying. Have an interview in a distant city? Keep your head down and double check your bag for potential "contraband" or you'll never make it.

It sucks, and it needs more attention so people will speak up. But it's not fair to call the people standing in line at the airport that they're sheeple for wanting to make their plane. The problem is when they get home and put it out of their minds, or simply accept it as the way things are/are going to be.

[Ossit]

12:22 PM on 12/27/2011

If people value their right to fly and not be told they can't because they have the audacity to speak up against TSA then what does that say? TSA has the power as long as we continue to give it them, Veluriel, and we do!

They are Sheeple because they WON'T change the system! They're accepting. People SHOULD get outraged if they can't visit dad in the hospital because of TSA. It's NOT hard to fight the system. Two years ago there was the guy that uttered the famous "Don't touch my junk!" because he didn't want to be felt up. HE still flew and he made a stink. What happened? People villainized him because he dared speak up and actually DO something. He took it to the media. Acceptance of something people refuse to change is being a Sheeple!

If someone is denied the right to fly, because they did speak up right then and there, at least they DID speak up! Then they should go to the media! We're too accepting! It was never like this before and terrorism in the skies didn't just start. I was around when hijacking planes to Cuba was the rage. No TSA then and those terrorists didn't carry water pistols.

[Ossit]

12:31 PM on 12/27/2011

The bottom line, Veluriel is that it's much easier not to buck the system, and be accepting. What next? TSA puts road checks so you can't even drive where you want? Use some terrorist excuse? Are people going to accept that? Of course they will. So much easier to bow in submission than to fight. Then people go home and complain about TSA.

Remember in 2010 the so-called boycott just before Thanksgiving? Everyone was growling about teaching TSA a lesson? They did nothing! Being humiliated was much more acceptable instead of staying home so people flew.

[jerrypl]

10:36 AM on 12/26/2011

There is nothing scarier than a dangerous cupcake!!! STOP THAT CUPCAKE. IT rubbed itself on the bottom of my designer pants!!! Arrest that cupcake. No! Not her. The actual cupcake.