The heck? I have traveled with pumped breast milk, in multiple U.S. airports. It is a specific exception to the 3.4oz maximum, because it's considered to be so vital for infant health and is promoted by the government and medical system. (I actually think the benefits are not THAT overwhelming for healthy full-term babies in the First World, but official government policy disagrees with me.)

Anyway, major U.S. airports have special little machines to analyze breast milk. You tell the TSA folks what you have and they motion you over, swab the outside of the bottles for explosive traces, pop the bottles in the machine, check out the readouts, and hand the bottles back to you (assuming, of course, that nothing worrisome shows up).

I only traveled domestically with the stuff, but multiple friends have traveled internationally for work and have reported no issues. And the breastfeeding brigade is militant enough in the U.S. that trust me, we would hear about it if multiple people were having milk dumped; plus, the pump makers would have started making specialized 3.4oz containers. So, the poorly trained TSA manages to handle this fairly efficiently, without anyone or any plane blowing up, but security at Heathrow just can't?

Oh well, the natural birthing brigade is powerful enough in England that I suspect this policy will be revised soon. Fair or not, telling mothers they are horrible for even considering formula and then dumping out breast milk is inconsistent.

(Though I wonder if it's just that someone at Heathrow security hated "Who's The Boss"...)

(Though I wonder if it's just that someone at Heathrow security hated "Who's The Boss"...)

You never know. Give people who would never have power "power" over their fellow citizens and they are likely to use it.

Common sense? What's that?

Maybe they're bitter over the fact that Alyssa Milano got Shannon Doherty fired from Charmed.

If this was a flight to the US the rules are even stricter and more bizarre than the in US ones. They don't know our rules or the politics involved but they still have to comply, so they tend to go overboard. It is bad enough with the security theater here in the US we don't need to export it.

But they let her keep her tits, right?

Morons.

Maybe some creepy security dude wanted to drink it.

Or use it in ice cream.

No more than 3.4 oz of liquid?
Once again, I myself am approximately 70% liquid. And slightly more than 3.4 oz.

Why would you doubt these stalwart defenders of liberty?

::hurl::