HBO British Airways flight with Christmas gift

[bloomers]

Please, does anybody know the answer to ny rather niche question? I have hunted through BA site, Gov.uk site, assorted forums, googled the question but cannot find a definitive answer to my question…. can I carry an unopened jar containing 411g of mincemeat (for xmas mince pies) in my hand luggage? Flying BA LGW to ACE.

[0 post]

Security can treat soft cheese as liquid, so I would not be surprised if they treat mincemeat as liquid too and not allow it.

[ChrisBCN]

Probably not. But for things like this, you are at the mercy of whoever is working security when you show up, regardless of what the actual rule is. I would say 9 times out of 10 you would be told no, so it’s a big gamble.

[Nigel Keya]

You are in the lap of the security scanner gods. My wife wanted me to chance bringing back some puree of similar consistency to thick ketchup the other week and I just said pah! ie no way was I trying it. Pointless. Mincemeat you might get away with, depending on whether they’re in a good mood. I took a blender (as in milkshake/ smoothee size blender) out through LHR a few years ago and they were going to confiscate the blade bit – I got them to change their minds by being nice & humble and mentioning my 3 kids travelling with me, ie hardly likely to crash the plane.

You could a) make the mince pies and bring them out or b) put the mincemeat into 100g bags and bring them out, you’re allowed 10 x 100g/ 100ml.

[ChrisBCN]

I’ve just googled, and there seem to be several English stores around Lanzarote. There is a good chance these stores will stock it, so I guess it depends on your timing.

[Lady London]

Mincemeat=jam=liquid.

You can decant it into 100ml containers (which must have 100ml or whatever less capacity they are, actually marked on the comtainer technically) so max 1000ml of your total liquids in containers in the plastic bag.

[Michael C]

Lady London wrote:

Mincemeat=jam=liquid.

You can decant it into 100ml containers (which must have 100ml or whatever less capacity they are, actually marked on the comtainer technically) so max 1000ml of your total liquids in containers in the plastic bag.

Yep, had to do this once with lemon curd!!!!

[bloomers]

Many thanks all, I think it’s a no then! But I may well make and take mince pies if I have space for them, thanks for the suggestion! In this day and age, with the screening technology available, I have to wonder what threat mincemeat, jam and lemon curd pose on a flight!!

[Andrew J]

bloomers wrote:

Many thanks all, I think it’s a no then! But I may well make and take mince pies if I have space for them, thanks for the suggestion! In this day and age, with the screening technology available, I have to wonder what threat mincemeat, jam and lemon curd pose on a flight!!

Well of course they pose no threat, but security don’t know that’s what it actually is and it could be something that poses a threat. A tray of mince pies may also be denied. Probably best to just buy some from Pret when you get airside.

[Nigel Keya]

Andrew J wrote:

bloomers wrote:

Many thanks all, I think it’s a no then! But I may well make and take mince pies if I have space for them, thanks for the suggestion! In this day and age, with the screening technology available, I have to wonder what threat mincemeat, jam and lemon curd pose on a flight!!

Well of course they pose no threat, but security don’t know that’s what it actually is and it could be something that poses a threat. A tray of mince pies may also be denied. Probably best to just buy some from Pret when you get airside.

Highly unlikely that mince pies will be denied, as the ‘liquid’ is now cooked and a solid. Incidentally, when it was legal pre-Brexit, I used to regularly take through (at LHR) frozen joints of lamb, beef and even whole turkeys – hand baggage – and security just had a giggle and never refused them.

[Andrew J]

Nigel Keya wrote:

Andrew J wrote:

bloomers wrote:

Many thanks all, I think it’s a no then! But I may well make and take mince pies if I have space for them, thanks for the suggestion! In this day and age, with the screening technology available, I have to wonder what threat mincemeat, jam and lemon curd pose on a flight!!

Well of course they pose no threat, but security don’t know that’s what it actually is and it could be something that poses a threat. A tray of mince pies may also be denied. Probably best to just buy some from Pret when you get airside.

Highly unlikely that mince pies will be denied, as the ‘liquid’ is now cooked and a solid. Incidentally, when it was legal pre-Brexit, I used to regularly take through (at LHR) frozen joints of lamb, beef and even whole turkeys – hand baggage – and security just had a giggle and never refused them.

I don’t think the mincemeat partially changes consistency when cooked – the filling of the mince pie is not solid.

[Andrew.]

Phone Harrods or F&M and check to see if they sell it at their T5 store, or if they can have one there ready for you to collect?

https://www.fortnumandmason.com/christmas-mincemeat-pantry-jar-400g

[The Savage Squirrel]

Slightly OT: not sure if technology has advanced, but airport scanners used to identify Christmas Pudding as Semtex so I’d definitely not switch to that instead…

[memesweeper]

FWIW I took several trays of mince pies through Gatwick security on Xmas Eve Eve last year. They were the kids ‘special request’ for Christmas lunch. They made it all the way to the Caribbean coast only to be eaten by monkeys while we slept on our first night! We sourced locally made panettone instead.