Keeping food cold during post 9/11 air travel

I guess I am not sure why you are taking cold food with you in the first place. Where ever you are going is sure to have food that will satisfy any dietary restrictions. This seems like a lot of hassle to take things like spagetti sauce overseas. Have you thought about fruit or raw veggies for snacks? Airlines will prepare special meals for you too.

So, my tip is to fill up a tupperware with ice. Use this as your cooling. Dump the ice right before you go through security. After you go through security, ask at a restaurant or bar to fill up your tupperware again. This works well for medications too that need to stay chilled. The airport lounges will keep medicine cold for you too, even if you are not a member. The best thing about the tupperware is that you can use it while traveling then.

OK - I see I need to provide more info. I have mulitple, very serious food allergies. I never eat anything I do not prepare from scratch. I do not eat in restaurants or buy processed food. Doing so only sends me to the hospital. I must travel with my own food in order to survive. I have no trust in special meals, as they have given me things on my proscribed list in the past, and the risk of cross-contamination is too great.
Would further replies please restrict themselves to how to preserve my food?
Thank you.

Excuse me? I did give you an answer.

I think you misunderstood about using the tupperware for ice. You do not put your food in the tupperware, it is only to hold your ice and you can take as big of one as you think will work. Try it at home first to see how long it will keep cold. I have done this with my medicine and it worked great. You just dump out the ice before you go through security and then have a restaurant fill it up for you again. There is no contamination of your food as your food is not in there. Your food is in a separate container in your cooler bag.

It is a common misconception that airlines will keep things cold for you or give you ice while flying. They do NOT do this. It is up to us as passengers to take care of this.

There is not a huge problem with bringing food into most of Europe. Bring what ever fruits, veg, meat, tofu, fish, etc. that you want. Can you freeze whatever food you want and then eat it after it thaws? I cannot think of anything off hand, especially since I have no idea what you can and cannot eat, but you will figure something out.

Here is the U.S., you can buy Tuna, Chicken and other proteins in foil containers that don't need refrigeration.

What about Organic Beef or Turkey Jerky? You could even make your own if you didn't trust store bought.

The only thing I can think of is to get a note from your doctor and then contact your airline to see what they say.

The flight crew would be able to provide you with ice during your flight to keep food cold.

The only other product I can think of, and I'm not sure if they are allowed by CATSA, are cold packs used for medical treatments (such as injuries). Don't ask me what happens chemically, but to activate them, you squeeze them and they freeze up. They won't last forever but perhaps long enough to get you from the terminal and onto the plane.

If you are taking more food than you need for the flight, then you might think about packing the remaining food in a container with dry ice and checking it. (it won't be allowed on board.)

Regarding the frozen peas...you don't open the bag, just use it as an ice pack. If not, try frozen green beans or any other small vegetable.

Having read your reply to Jo, it seems you not only have serious allergies you also suffer from a lack of good manners. How dare you be so rude to someone who was trying to be helpful in response to your request for advice in the first place.

Why can't you pack un refrigerated foods that you can eat for the flight over and then purchase and prepare something for yourself once you get there?

And thanks, Jo, for the suggestion about ice. I have done the same with water before and after security, but I wouldn't have thought about doing the same with ice. Can't say I would have any need for it, but it is good to have in mind if I ever do.

I thought Jo's technique, tupperware container with ice refilled after security, was about as good as any when you have to have something stay cold.

If you could pack things watertight and small enough to fit inside tupperware, putting ice around it will keep it coldest.

A note from your allergist on your dietary requirements will be handy in case someone from TSA or Customs inquires. If you have to bring liquids beyond the limits, a note from your doctor is required.

How much food are you wanting to take? Just enough for the flight and first meal there, or enough for all your meals? Are there frozen veggies or fruits that you are not allergic to that you could leave in the bag and pack around your other food? (Corn, brocolli, peaches, etc?) The scientific minds here need more info.

Check CATSA regulations to see if dry ice is allowed. TSA allows it with certain restrictions.

If you put it in checked luggage, it should stay decently cold if you freeze it beforehand, even on a 9 hour trip. I brought Cheeses home that way and it was still solidly cold by the time I got home. As long as its a non stop flight.

Are you sure this is not partly an OCD thing about food being touched rather than true allergies?

Thanks to everyone for all their interest in helping. I am sorry if my response appeared rude. I was merely saying that questioning why I need what I'm asking for is not helpful, because most people don't understand my challenges. I asked specific questions. I did respond privately to the first responder apologizing. I'm afraid that most suggestions here I have already looked into and are either not allowed or the help you suggest others give me is not forthcoming (e.g., no to dry ice, airline will not provide ice, I cannot go over the liquids limit even with a doctor's note saying the food and means to preserve it is necessary). Cool packs are included in that limit. I have talked & written to my air carrier's med desk, CATSA, Transport Canada (who makes the regs) and feel I have exhausted my options with them. I have a jouney of about 20 hours, door to door, without delays. The chance of cross-contamination of having a food server handle my container for ice is too high, and my past experience has shown that others are not willing to help (& I asked nicely). Loose ice will melt in that time period, but would help. Although I could survive on board w. the limited fruit & veg I can eat, I will not be able to bring fruits & veg into the other country to serve until I locate & prepare other food. I can't eat things you might take like granola bars or nuts, and it would be good to have a cold-preserved source of protein to keep me feeling full. I want to look into other frozen foods, but wanted to know what qualities to look for in that food, in addition to not harming me if leakage or what's on outside of the package from processing plant. So my questions remain, what frozen foods that are solid when thawed will stay cold longest and how can I increase the time water or other liquid in small quantities will stay frozen?

Perhaps an e-mail to your local university’s physics department will produce results regarding your question about whether or not adding impurities to water before freezing affects ice melt time. In the meantime, aren’t there food allergy support groups or organizations whose membership may be better equipped to help with recommendations in this area?

Robin,
I would most definitely ask the airline about your food restrictions, and get your doctor's note. They may be able to help you bring it on board in a cooler, and even store in their airline galley.

Are there any food items which are not perishable which you can eat?? For example, tofu can be kept fresh for long hours unopened, even though its not chilled.

You can also specify with the airlines your allergies, and see if they can prepare you a Specific food meal (as back up) in case your food doesn't keep.

Not knowing your allergies, it makes it harder to help... for example, a friend of mine with serious allergies, mostly to nuts, loves an island company that specializes in nut free products, but are also very detailed and careful about other ingredients.

I would pay more attention to the trip than to the first 24 hours upon arrival in the UK - I'm making the same trip this weekend (ferry, bus to airport, airport, tube) - you should be able to supply your needs. And it's more likely in those times that you'll be wanting food.

Beyond that, I think you should be able to get by with a mix of non-perishables - i.e. for a gluten allergy, take a bag of Tinkyada with you, and grab a tomato as you walk from the tube (or what have you) to where you're staying. Grocery stores are plentiful, and you can wash what you buy just as you would here. If you're really worried, can some food in jars and check it in well packed into baggage. You'll have had the control over it, it'll stay fresh, with the only trick being keeping the glass from breaking.

I wish the stores in the secure area would freeze bottles of water and sell those. That would help you, and it would help those of us who like our water very cold. I'd pay a buck extra for a bottle of ice.

Boil the water to get trapped air bubbles out. This keeps the ice cool longer. Adding salt, alcohol, or sugar will lower the freezing temperature of ice (down to a point). The more you add the lower the freezing point. Finding a freezer that goes this low is tricky.

As far as shape, the shape with the least surface area will last the longest. Squares are probably the easiest thing your you to make, and a lot more efficient than rectangles.

I'd line the inside of the cooler with tinfoil to help keep the temperature.

Pykrete - Mixing Water with saw dust will make an extremely long lasting ice mixture. Not a joke, Google it. Covering ice with sawdust to preserve it has been tradition in Scandinavia for hundreds of years. Mixing it with ice works too.

Robin, my father is diabetic, and always takes extra water and food with him (usually enough for the whole family - I literally mean 5-6 bottles +), and we have always gotten through security, and never had a problem flying in the US, Ireland, Italy, Austria. All he does is tells them he's diabetic, and they say OK.

We also have never had a problem getting ice from the airline. SAS had a big bowl of it in back you could go get ice from at will.

Final thought: Not sure where you're going, but usually things that need to be frozen are not processed, and are natural (meat, fruit, cheese, etc). I can't think of a country that doesn't mostly ban these from entry.

And if you find maybe the TSA is easier than the CATSA - maybe fly out of SEATAC?

Best of luck.

Does your food need to stay frozen, or just cold? In a cooler, with cold food, and a tupperware of ice that you filled up post-security, your food would stay cold for at least 6 hours. It would stay pretty cool for another 6, and probably wouldn't spoil within the next 6. What kind of food are we talking about?

I used to own an ice cream store that featured ice cream made on the premisis. I found that as the sugar content increased, the ice cream melted sooner and didn't freeze as hard....chocolate flavors being the worst! I did take a frozen jell pack similar to blue ice in a hard plastic type container(brand name: "Polar Pack") rather than the plastic bag type of ice pack. It was on a domestic flight, and it was froze fairly solid and placed with our food items. It went thru security in our small carry on with no problem....maybe we lucked out! One other time we took them to London and Ireland to put in our soft cooler for daily lunch items. We asked the hotel restaurants or the B&B owners to freeze them overnight, and then retrieved them in the morning at breakfast time. On that trip it was in the checked luggage. Good luck....cheers Dan

Robin,

Hello again.

What about dehydrated foods? Not the type you buy (although they would do too) but the type you do yourself at home. Then you wouldn't need ice and if you wanted to reconsitute the pieces you could have a bowl with you and get a bottle (or more) before entering the plane or from the flight attendent if that is possible for you.

I hope this helps too.

The airport here is arranged such that you can get nothing once you are through security. The two gates are at opposite ends of the concorse and each has it's own security point. The restaurant and shop are in between. At least that's how it was when I flew out in November. It might have changed by now but when I fly out later today I don't expect it. I'm glad I don't have food allergies. And the one I have isn't allowed in indoor spaces in Nebraska anymore.

Robin,

Have you checked with NASA? Food in space might present some of these same challenges. Good luck.

That’s a good idea…freeze-dried food that can be rehydrated with water. What about military MREs?

Hi Robin, what about freezing an already cooked protein source.. like chicken breasts.Pack in in ziplock bags, put bag in larger ziplock bag, put in cooler and cover with bags of frozen peas( you are not eating them and they are packaged) The meat will be fine for 12 hours easy.

Also, hard boiled eggs in the shell do NOT need to be refrigerated to be safe,, my grandmother always made a bowl of them for Easter, coloured them, and then they sat on our table all easter week, and then we ate them. Easter bread also has hard boiled eggs cooked into it( whole, in shell) and is not refrigerated. If nervous the cooler will keep them cool enough anyways.

I think dried foods ( that you dried yourself) are a great idea. Dried fruits are great.

What about various bread products.. gluten free or not?

"Dry ice or ice used to refrigerate medicine is permitted and not subject to any size limit if the passenger presents a note from his doctor or pharmacist justifying its necessity." from this site: http://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/english/events_evenements/uk_ru-2006/notice_avis.shtml

My son has medication that must be kept cold at all times, so he carries it with 4 of these Polar Packs (link below) in a small "lunch" type cooler (below), inside his RS carryon bag. (I'm not promoting these brands, any gel pack or cooler will do, but this is what he used. I tested it at home and things stayed cold for at least 30 hours, much longer than regular ice.) I agree with Jo, airlines do not have room to keep medication or special things cold and I would not rely on them to have enough ice cubes, which melt far too fast.

Polar Pack:
http://www.thermosafe.com/model/PP24.html?&Pr10=Transport+Assurance&Pr12=Gel+Packs&PGS=15

small cooler:
http://www.shopthermos.com/detail/TMS+CTA12CAC6BL

Medication has his name on prescription label and he always carries it with a letter from his physician. He's had no problems with security between LAX and Düsseldorf, or Seattle and Heathrow, or Seattle and LAX. I think the key is the letter from physician explaining necessity for medication (or special foods) and prescription label on medication with passenger's name. Also, physician should note length or dates of travel. In son's case it was a 4 month study abroad, with medication he could not obtain in Europe, that had to be refrigerated. The letter was also for customs (value was over $8,000. for 4 month supply) but he had no problems with customs at Heathrow or Düsseldorf.

TSA
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/index.shtm

http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/special_needs_memo.pdf

I'm now checking w. CATSA to see if they will allow me to bring frozen spinach (compacted in the waxed cardboard about the size of a freezer pack). I figure that's a lot more efficient than small, loose peas (or blueberries, which I'm not allergic to). I have checked with CATSA previously, and they won't allow a cooler pack (bigger than 3 oz. or 100 ml) for food, despite a doctor's note, even with the parallel to cooling medications being brought to their attention. Dry ice has to be allowed by the airline and Air Canada won't allow it except for certain medical purposes. It's odd that you can be confident that people and institutions will help you out when you have a real and documented need, and that common sense will prevail, until you test it. I have used h.b. eggs in the past, and will just have to ignore the objections of other passengers to the smell when I peel them. After all, they splash perfume on at the duty-free and bring nuts on board. I will look into dehydrating my own dinner or jerkey, etc. for food at the other end. There are probably recipes somewhere that I can modify. I'll also spend a couple of hours with a magnifying glass in a grocery stores looking at labels for some of the types of foods people have suggested here. I normally don't eat processed foods because the food labeling laws don't require "may contain" labels except for the 6 most common allergens. I wish I had only six. We really have no ideas what is in things, but I suppose I can try them first on the ground and hope for the best at 30,000 feet. And a note to people who think you can request a special meal if you have allergies - I once asked for no milk products and was given a bread roll (containing milk) and even a pat of butter . Needless to say, I didn't touch a thing and will never count on the airlines again. Air Canada won't even give me a bottle of water in lieu of a meal. Thanks for the ideas for helping me help myself.

It should be easy enough to buy fresh groceries abroad once you get there. Tesco and Sainsburys grocers are all over the place.

The block of frozen spinach might be a good idea. I would seriously do some tests at home. Pack your cooler bag with the different options of either a tupperware full of ice cubes, or the block of spinach. See which one keeps your cooler bag cool the longest. Which one melts first. I would put that box of spinach in a tupperware too, otherwise you will have some nice green puddles in your bag.

You may wish to try wrapping the frozen box of spinach in newspaper…it will act as an insulator and should help your frozen product stay frozen/colder longer.

I have heard back from CATSA re. frozen spinach. They said, "Solid food items are generally permitted in either your carry-on or checked baggage. As you previously stipulated; food that is transported as carry-on baggage cannot be accompanied by ice or frozen gel packs, under current and unchanged transport security regulations. Please be advised that you may use frozen spinach or any frozen solid vegetables/fruits to preserve your food in your carry-on baggage."

"We invite you to visit our website at http://www.catsa.gc.ca/english/travel_voyage/list.shtml for a complete list of permitted and non permitted items. "
I am pretty sure that the way spinach is packed here in a square compact box, it will last longer than loose peas.

I fly between Seattle and Hawaii regularly and almost every flight to HI has ice chests as check-ins. I once asked a cooler owner about his experiences taking a cooler (his was wrapped in tape) and he said he did this every time he returned home in HI and that TSA occasionally unwrapped his cooler but always re-taped it. This is on Hawaiian Airlines.
Good luck.