Who is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) protecting us from, asks consumer advocate and newsletter publisher Christopher Elliott. His answer:
“Crissy Tuning’s three-month-old son….specifically, his ‘dangerous’ formula,” he says.
To put this in context: he notes the TSA now says lighters and breast milk can be carried on a plane, even though its reasons are fuzzy. But apparently artificial breast milk — better known to us as infant formula — is not safe.
What happened to Ms Tuning?
She showed up in Albuquerque, NM, for her flight, along with her baby and a bottle containing about two ounces of formula. Sorry, the TSA agent said, that’s not allowed before confiscating her child’s meal. The formula has to be “sealed,” she was told.
“Which left Tuning with a big problem. What do you feed your three-month-old son on a 10-hour flight?” asked Mr Elliott.
The TSA agent’s response: “That’s not my problem.”
“We have never been treated so rudely,” she said. “My son had to go 10 hours without formula. On one of the planes, a flight attendant gave us some apple juice which we diluted with water.”
She was appalled. Mr Elliott says he was also appalled.
“I would really like to speak with the ‘expert’ who told the TSA that baby formula was dangerous, but breast milk wasn’t. I’d like to know if the TSA has ever considered using common sense at its checkpoints,” he says. He added:
“The government has kept almost every detail of the liquid ‘threat’ from the public. It’s time to come clean about it — or lift the ban.”
Report by David Wilkening
