Can I Bring A Pizza On A Plane? (Solved)

  • By: Mike
  • Date: June 18, 2021
  • Time to read: 5 min.

I love pizza. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I can assume based on the fact that you’re reading this, that you love pizza too.

I’ve found myself wondering over the last couple of days what I’d do if I had a flight coming up and wanted to take some pizza with me.

Or what if I had been to a fantastic new city that offers some of the best pizza I’ve ever tasted and I want to bring it back for my friends to try out?

Is it actually possible to bring a pizza back on a plane? Can you bring a pizza on a plane and get through airport security with no problems? And what about a pizza cutter? Where is the line drawn?

I know I’ve just asked you a whole bunch of questions that you probably don’t know the answer to, but don’t worry! I’ve done my own research and I’ve figured it all out! If you’re asking yourself these questions, then have a read!

Can You Bring A Pizza On A Plane?

After some pretty extensive research, I came to one seemingly unanimous decision. The answer appears to be “yes” on pretty much all counts.

That’s excellent news for all pizza lovers out there, but there are a few things I need to clarify before you jump on that plane journey tomorrow and end up getting your precious pizza thrown in the bin by the TSA.

While most pizzas are allowed in both carry-on bags and checked bags (I checked the TSA website and they said yes!), it’s important to understand what they mean.

Firstly, you can take the pizza with you on domestic flights that stay within the USA, as well as being able to take them abroad with flights that originate from the USA.

However, (and this is where it gets finicky), you aren’t always allowed to take the pizza back with you into the USA. There are rules against bringing any form of meat or poultry back from other countries.

That’s bad news for all us meat lovers out there – but it’s probably quite exciting news for the vegetarians and vegans among us! As long as there is no meat on the pizza, you’ll more than likely be allowed to bring it back into the country.

Of course, all of this is up to the discretion of the TSA officer that you get when you’re at the airport, so don’t take everything I’ve said as gospel!

Can You Bring A Pizza Cutter On A Plane?

Okay, so we’ve determined that you’ll be allowed to bring your pizza on a plane if it originates from the USA (and also if it is coming into the USA, provided that there are no meat toppings).

What if you’ve brought your pizza with you in a carry-on bag and fancy eating it while you count down the hours of your journey? You’re not going to want to eat the pizza whole, it’ll need to be cut. Are pizza cutters allowed on planes?

It’s no secret that the TSA can be pretty strict on certain items that we would otherwise consider to be safe in our daily lives. This includes blades more than anything else.

No, you cannot bring a pizza cutter on a plane. A pizza cutter is a blade, and some pizza cutters can be incredibly sharp indeed. Bladed items cannot be brought onto a plane.

I wouldn’t recommend trying to bring a pizza cutter on a plane journey with you, as most TSA officers will confiscate it and you’ll end up pizza cutter-free, and have no way to enjoy that slice you fancied en-route to your destination.

The simplest way to get around this is just to buy a pizza cutter on the other end. It’s not worth trying to bring a blade with you on the journey.

Remember, even though it’s not dangerous to you, the reason the TSA has its rules in place is to ensure that they don’t pose a threat to anyone.

Imagine for a second that your pizza cutter got into the wrong hands – someone that wanted to harm you or other passengers on the plane. You can see that going south pretty quickly… Death by pizza cutter is a nasty way to go!

Don’t risk taking one on, especially if you consider it to be among one of your favorite tools! Seeing a TSA officer unapologetically throwing it away can be heartbreaking, believe me!

Should You Bring A Pizza On A Plane?

The simple answer that I’ve found in my time exploring the exciting world of pizza is actually that, no, you shouldn’t really be bringing pizza on a plane with you.

As nice as it would be to take it as a snack or to have it ready for you on the other side, you’re probably better off just buying the pizza when you land and not running the risk of a bacterial infection with pizza that’s gone off.

Remember, pizza is a perishable food item, meaning that when left at room temperature, it will begin to go bad quickly. The lifespan of a room-temperature pizza only goes as far as about two hours.

Anything after that isn’t recommended for consumption and it should be thrown away. It’s not like the plane is going to keep your pizza refrigerated for you (though it might be slightly cooler in a plane’s undercarriage than room temperature).

Either way, I wouldn’t recommend taking a pizza on an extended flight of more than a couple of hours.

Summary

So, hopefully, I’ve cleared up some of the questions you might have had about taking pizza on a plane with you.

There’s actually a great deal of freedom with taking them on domestic flights within the US, but you’re going to want to be more careful taking them in from an international location.

At the end of the day, the TSA officer has the final say, so if you want to risk seeing your pizza being taken away, then go for it!

Remember though, I only recommend taking a pizza on a short journey. I don’t want anyone getting sick because they ate an eight-hour-old pizza left on a plane and then come back and blame me for writing this blog!

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