Can You Take Salt On a Plane? The TSA Rules 2024

Salt is an essential ingredient for our diets, it makes our food taste better, and if you are planning to bring salt on your next flight you need to know what the rules say about taking salt on planes.

You can bring salt in both carry-on and checked baggage without any quantity limits, but when transported in carry-on baggage you will need to remove any containers more than 12 oz / 350 ml from your bag and place them in a separated bin at the security checkpoint, for additional screening. 

To avoid inconvenience at the security checkpoint, non essential powdered items are generally better if transported in checked baggage.

Keep reading to know more about traveling with salt in both domestic and international flights.

Let’s start with the TSA rules.

Bamboo Salt Cellar
Bamboo Salt Cellar / Amazon Countesy

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Can You Take Salt Through The TSA Security Checkpoint?

The TSA has straightforward rules about traveling with salt and powders in general on planes.

You can bring salt through the security checkpoint, but you will need to take out any containers larger than 12 oz / 350 ml from your carry-on bag and place them in a separate bin for additional screening.

These rules are set because of the bad guys that use different techniques to smuggle prohibited and dangerous items through the security checkpoint.

So the TSA agent may even need to open the container to ensure that it contains only salt inside.

Small containers less than 12 oz / 350 ml do not need to be removed from your bag.

Here is a screenshot from the TSA website:

Salt TSA rules

I checked Twitter to find more answers.

Axle wanted to know if these full salt and pepper shakers will be permitted in carry-on luggage or if he needs to empty them.

Take salt and pepper shakes on plane

The TSA customer service gave him the green light.

In this case Axle may not need to remove the salt from the bag as the shakers are small and the amount looks less than 12 oz / 350 ml.

Take salt and pepper shakers on plane

Even Eposm salt is allowed in carry-on bags without any issues.

Take epsom salt in carry on

The TSA added it may require additional screening or even to be opened if the container exceeds 12 oz / 350 ml.

The same rules apply for rock salt.

Bring rock salt on planes

Salt in liquid form like salt water needs to follow the TSA 3-1-1 liquid rules.

You can only bring containers of 3.4 oz / 100 ml or less on board the airplane.

But liquid salt that is considered medically necessary does not need to follow the TSA liquid rules so you can bring as much as you need inside your carry on bag.

Take saline salt water on a plane

Salt liquid will be subject for additional screening, so do not forget to inform the security officer that you have it inside your bag as it will be subject for addition.

Please note that whether a particular item will be permitted to bring on board the airplane is a decision taken by the TSA officer at the security checkpoint, but overall if an item is not considered as hazardous or flammable you won’t face any issues.

Important

Can You Take Salt In Checked Baggage?

In domestic flights you can bring any type of salt (liquid or solid ) in checked baggage without any limits.

If you are planning to bring a large amount of salt inside your bag, like Epsom salt or bath salt, ensure that the weight is within your airlines size and weight limits.

Can You Take Salt On International Flights?

I don’t think taking a small amount of food salt ( for personal use ) on an international flight would be a problem.

But you can’t bring a full bag of salt to another country, that will make the customs curious why you are taking all this amount of salt.

If you are taking table salt or any other type of salt just ensure that you take it in its original package.

Final Thoughts Taking Salt On a Plane.

You can pack any type of salt on planes in both carry on and checked baggage in domestic flights.

Salt in powder form larger than 12 oz / 350 ml needs to be removed from your bag at the security checkpoint and placed in a separated bin for additional screening.

To avoid inconvenience at the airport you would prefer to place any larger amount of salt inside your checked bag.

We hope this helps

Happy travels

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