I’m flying out soon (out from Taiwan) and plan to bring some mochi with me to eat on the plane - the kind that’s hand-packed in little unsealed plastic bags and sold at independent stores, not from the supermarkets.
Since it’s food I figure it will be fine, but since mochi is gelatinous (although not liquid) I thought there might be an issue of them thinking it’s bomb juice or something.
Anybody had luck bringing mochi on the plane before? It’s somewhat specialty, I know, but horses for courses and all that.
It’s not really a gel - the filling is paste (think peanut butter) and it’s wrapped in mochi (which is like a gelatinous paste made of rice, think silly putty).
It’s not an obscure food item here by any means - just a bit worried they’ll give me some grief.
I saw that thread when I googled it, but seems vague.
I’m departing from Taiwan, so I’m not sure the TSA operates here, but I understand they kind of set the world standard?
Although I’d be buying the mochi day-of and not have time to instagram them, that did turn out to be helpful, since they mention donuts (which are kind of like bigger, fried mochi) are okay, and anything food-based that’s spreadable (worst case scenario) has to follow regular liquid volume requirements. Thanks.
Beyond this there is only hope, possibly - unless somebody can confirm they brought mochi onboard a plane departing Taiwan without hassle.
When bringing obscure items on the plane, there’s only hope.
I fly a lot (never brought mochi, sorry) but bring obscure things almost every time. Sometimes I get stopped. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes it becomes clear that I know the rules better than the TSA guy I’m arguing with. If I’m willing to put up a fight, I always get through when I ask to speak to their superior. If I’m in a rush, I just let them toss my stuff so that I can catch my flight.
They are inconsistent. Even if mochi is explicitly mentioned in some obscure line of the list of approved items, if the guy on duty hasn’t reviewed that line recently, you’re in for trouble.
Edit: I bring baby food, which is explicitly mentioned as an approved item in the TSA guidelines. But it’s not on the “main list,” which is why I get grief over it. Sometimes they believe me when I pull out my copy of the master list… but sometimes they’re too lazy to get their own copy of the list and just toss my stuff.
I brought all sorts of snacks onto flights before. I’d recommend just bringing it. If mochi is a no-go, then toss it. It won’t cost an arm and a leg to lose it.
I had US CBP think my pineapple cakes were hiding drugs because the xray shows a weird filling inside and the packaging didn’t indicate there was filling.
