Mincemeat in hand luggage

[ladydiggins]

What are my chances of it getting through do we think? Off to France from Stansted in a week or so and have had a request.

The standard - sized jars are in grams not mls so technically 'not a liquid'..I could decant into tupperware I suppose..

Hardly the end of the world if does get confiscated of course.

You'd have to be quite unlucky to get rumbled. And they would only confiscate it if they found it.

well I’ve been told jam is a liquid before

Grams Vs millilitres isn’t a solid Vs liquid thing, it’s weight vs volume. I’ve had marmalade removed as liquid.

It would be frustrating, and not all airports bother about liquids anymore. Look up the one you’re flying from.

I'd say you'd be lucky to get it through. Jams and spreads are included in the rules, in fact DH got pulled up for having truffle salt last year, although it was a tiny jar so they let it go but he had to put it in his liquids bag.

I think it would get treated as a liquid; jams etc are. I recently brought 7 jars from UK to France, but with Eurostar so no issues.

I've had jam confiscated on the way back from France into the UK. If you want to be sure you can probably get your luggage checked in rather than carrying it on board.

You can get it in France- last year in Leclerc (along with Christmas puds!) This year I found mince pies in Super U!

If you have the choice at security at Stansted go hard left to the new scanners - but they aren’t always available!

If it was found, would it cause more issues if it was decanted into tupperware rather than still being in a sealed jar?

Great info about Leclerc - thanks!

Yes - at Stansted the left hand queue (not Fast Track) is quicker than the Fast Track at times, as they have the new scanners whereas the so-called Fast Track doesn't - so you have to remove laptops and all that jazz.

Which can take ages if a few idiots insist on taking things like mincemeat through in their hand luggage...

Oo op are you a mince spy??

The lady in front of me at Stansted this summer had her Nutella taken off her at security.

Mince pies known in our house as Minsk pies.
I like this mince spy variant though! 😂

Keyster it.

If they find it I think they'll confiscate it. I once had a jar of risotto which I'd brought to eat on the flight taken off me.
I'd personally make a plug for making your own mincemeat once you get to your destination. I did it for the first time in Covid and I'll never go back - it was so much better than shop bought versions 😋

When flying out of Lourdes-Tarbes airport you see the confiscated litre bottles of holy water lurking under the forbidden table. Clearly ought to be exempt!

It is for my sister who has lived in France for 20 years - she usually makes her own, but hasn't been able to this year.

Have passed on the Leclerc tip so thank you very much, Thelmelba.

They confiscated my marmite at stanstead.

Assume you mean hand luggage you'd probably be more likely to get it through in cabin but yes, LeClerc has it.

My mum got stopped once for carrying a Christmas pudding in her hand luggage. Apparently it looked just like C4 on the x-ray machine.

Hand-luggage in terms of carry-on not hold. It would pass in hold no problem.

My French OH took a 5kg Iberico jamon over to Lyon in his hold luggage last year from the UK - I was expecting a call..no one was even slightly interested at Lyon..

If it's spreadable they consider it a liquid. Includes pastes etc too.

Quite rightly as it is the sauce of the devil.

As for holy water, my uncle used to send me back with poteen (the illegal sort) in holy water bottles

I got stopped at Carcassone airport for a pack of packaged sugar cubes (DD is T1D)! It is very random!!

Just a thought! My DD who is at uni in the UK takes back barilla pesto - and they do it in 100ml jars (so half size) so she packs as many as she can into her 1liter toiletries plastic sack. And has never had a problem!

So the point of that take is could you decant it into smaller jars? And get your toiletries at your sister’s?

I've taken mince pies (rather than mincemeat in a jar) through airport security multiple times with no issues, most recently at Heathrow.

@ladydiggins I don't know where your sister lives but The Trading Post is useful for British groceries including mince pies if you live close to one of their collection points.