posted
I heard someone on the radio saying that fruitcake is banned by airport security because the x-ray machines can't "see" through it. That sounded fishy to me, and a little searching shows varied opinions. This article from 2003 mentions Canadian airports, and says that the dessert is banned because the X-ray can't see through it. This article from 2004 again mentions Canadian airport security, but says that because the fruitcake is so dense, it could hide a weapon and needs further checking. That to me suggests that it isn't impossible to see through, but difficult or questionable. Yet this article also from 2003 just says to be aware that your fruitcake will be x-rayed. CNN weighed in as well.
I'm not sure what's more troubling, that x-ray machines can't see through a baked good to detect metal, or that people would eat a baked good that was so dense that an x-ray machine can't detect metal through it.
-------------------- Natural selection is a beguiling counterfeiter of deliberate purpose. - Richard Dawkins Posts: 620 | From: Alaska | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Sounds fishy to me, too - I'd be a bit worried if a security x-ray couldn't see through a humble foodstuff (if you consider fruitcake to be a food )
I thought maybe the packaging could be a problem - if the cake is sealed in foil, it might interfere, but according to this:
quote: X-rays easily penetrate metals that have low atomic number, like aluminum
so that probably isn't it.
When I first read the heading, I thought that security had a problem with the coins that are traditionally baked into cakes - then I remembered you put coins in Christmas pudding, not cake...
Little Galaxy
-------------------- I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains - that's why I live in Melbourne, where it always bloody rains. Posts: 632 | From: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
My Mum's fruit cakes are so dense they have an event horizon
-------------------- This is where I come up with something right? Something really clever... Posts: 6552 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2002
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Judging by your location dlloyd, you'd know
-------------------- This is where I come up with something right? Something really clever... Posts: 6552 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2002
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posted
The problem maybe that airports do not just X-ray stuff anymore, but also use ultra-sound. The fruitcake may look like a very dark blob using ultra-sound.
Posts: 597 | From: Bellingham, WA | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Due to their organic contents, foods like cheese, chocolate or fruitcake can be mistaken as explosives by bomb-detection machines.
quote:Do not stack books – spread them out. Bomb detectors cannot scan books that are clumped together.
The last time we flew we had a ship's clock in one of our suitcases. It wasn't ticking, but I'm sure the mechanics and the size (about 6"/15 cm in diameter) ensured that security would want a closer look. The bag was opened on both flights (TSA approved indicator lock). Only once did we get the little pamphlet telling us that our suitcase had been searched.
-------------------- "Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces." Judith Viorst Posts: 1082 | From: Luzern, Switzerland | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
I would think that the radiation would help make the cakes more digestible.
-------------------- You fail to consider, for such is the tyranny of fashion, that the swan is not a slim animal... -Jincy Kornhauser, Melinda Falling Posts: 1762 | From: Charleston, West Virginia | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I agree with Joseph Z. My aunt made the best fruitcake. Yummy! I knew I was finally considered to be an adult when I got my very own fruitcake in my Christmas package from her. After she died, I got her recipe, but I never made any because it is very difficult and time-consuming. Lazy, lazy me! Also, I was afraid it wouldn't turn out right, and then everyone would be disappointed. My mother used to keep what was left of hers after Christmas in the freezer and only served it to special people. A friend used to request it when she came to visit in August. We tried to make it last until the next Christmas when we would be getting another one.
Signora Del "There is more than one fruitcake in the world!" Drago
-------------------- "This air we're breathing. Oxygen, isn't it?"~I’mNotDedalus, impersonating Vincent D’Onofrio.|"Sometimes trying to communicate can be like walking through a minefield."~wanderwoman "Give people a break. It's not easy doing a life."~Joshua Halberstam Posts: 4020 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2005
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But maybe the TSA agrees with the majority opinion?
But if they can't "see" through a fruitcake, what else is out there that they can't see through?
-------------------- "No Biblical hell could ever be worse than the state of perpetual inconsequence." Beatrice in Dangerous Beauty Posts: 1816 | From: Cayuga County, NY | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Its odd what they'll pull you for. My two earliest airport horror stories happened back in the 80s. One was for a blue, rubber knife (which was perhaps understandable until the staff realized what it was and still prohibited it). The other was a box of chocolates that my parents snuck in my bag. Evidently yummy eddibles are occasionally confused with dangerous weapons.
-------------------- "The question for joining the protected forum for real magicians should be:
What is the use of women?" Steve W. from JREF's 'This is no fun' Posts: 7622 | From: North Carolina | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
The version I heard was that marzipan has an identical density to semtex. This was the reason given by a friend of a friend ( I know, I know. I do know her. I would not necessarily trust the information) as to why she had not been allowed to take a wedding cake when getting married abroad. Possibly this is just a way for the holiday company to insist you buy the cake through them...
If this was true it would make marzipan one of the most suspicious innocuous items around - the density of semtex and an almond smell that is indicative of cyanide bombs. If you ever what to ensure a package is intercepted send marzipan and watches.
Victoria J
-------------------- Post accompanied by maniacal laughter. Posts: 577 | From: London, UK | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
Remember, what the x-rays, gamma ray scanners, and their ilk detect are densities, and it's up to the operator to tell what it is, often by physical inspection of the substance. True--the machine itself cannot tell the difference between food, narcotics, and explosives, it can only show what the rays are not penetrating. For example, a car's battery is extremely dense, and thus comes out as a black square. There have been instances where our mobile x-rays have seen bundles, that turns out to be concealed cheese (which can only be imported in certain quantities and must be declared).
There's a National Geographic from a few years ago that had a good image from Mexico's x-ray truck showing illegals in a banana truck. Neato stuff, to be able to see inside the trailer without opening the doors.
Posts: 239 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I always assumed fruitcakes (the baked goods, not the half baked passengers) showed up on x-rays because they are usually wrapped (or baked) in metalic foil, or packed in tins.
-------------------- Never make fun of a man's fish, especially if it is 40 feet tall and aluminum. Posts: 949 | From: Central California | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
I actually like fruit cake. In fact, I have some in the fridge and might go cut a slice.
-------------------- "Cheating Hall Of Shame"-in honor of the dishonest. Every driver, owner and crew chief has a place in our Hall, which won't be moving to Daytona Beach anytime soon. Lone exception? Kyle Petty, who hasn't won a race since 1754. Posts: 545 | From: Pennsylvania | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Signora Del Drago: ...Signora Del "There is more than one fruitcake in the world!" Drago
Ah, so you're familiar with the theory that there is only one fruitcake in the universe, and it regularly travels backwards through wormholes in time so that it can occupy every instance where a fruitcake exists?
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I know, I know. I do know her. I would not necessarily trust the information) as to why she had not been allowed to take a wedding cake when getting married abroad. Possibly this is just a way for the holiday company to insist you buy the cake through them...
