Will I have a problem bringing a bottle of Omega 3 on board a flight?
 

I received good advice in this forum about buying Omega 3 capsules in Italy. My friend who requested I bring her a supply then wrote that the U.S. product is better and will not buy them
abroad because they are too expensive and of lesser quality.

I am not checking a bag, just taking one small rolling carry-on , so I need to find out if I'll be able to bring the supplement on board since they consist of liquid-filled capsules. The bottle will be sealed, but it won't fit in the quart ziploc bag with the other liquids I'm packing.

I think you might have a problem. Look at this page under makeup and toiletries. It specifically lists gel type caps. They have to be in the 3-1-1 bag.

http://www.seatguru.com/articles/tsa...ited_items.php

Also look and if you have over-the-counter medications they don't count, even if they are gel caps. You might get your doctor to write a note 'prescribing' these, even tho they are no prescription drugs. Explain the situation. I am sure your MD does not want you to stop taking this supplement for your health.

According to the TSA web site you can bring gel caps (over the counter meds) on board but you must declare them to the TSA official in front of the checkpoint.

How much are you planning to bring? You'd have to bring lots of bottles since the dose is 3 caps per day so one large bottle is good for 60 days. If your return ticket gives a date prior to 60 days I think you'd have a problem bringing more than one bottle. Sealed bottles aren't the issue since the seal can be easily removed.

Why don't you mail your friend a bunch of bottles? I know this can be costly but if she really wants them and she's a good friend then it's worth the money.

http://www.tsa.gov/311/311-carry-ons.shtm

Thank you everyone!

Michele_d, I used the link and it was helpful. My friend said to buy a bottle of Omega 3 and then if I have to let it go at the airport, she will reimburse me for the loss. She does not want me to send her the bottles because of the expense. Other friends from the U.S. will be bringing her supplies after I visit her. Apparently, they bring more luggage and check it.

I'm wary of trying to beat the system by asking my physician to write a fake RX, but I'll ask him what he thinks. This is all rather byzantine, but I am intrigued by how it will work itself out. I shall report my experience after the trip.

I'm going to be in Italy for just 11 days early in May, so I can fit my some of my own Omega 3, CoQ-10 and probiotics into my Ziploc bag wrapped in plastic wrap, but if they break, those capsules will make quite a mess. Anything that I deem non-essential, face creams and liquid make-up, are a thing of the past for me and if I miss them, I'll buy some when I get to Italy.

It's all worth it to not to have to check my carry-on, so I really appreciated your advice.

I have taken them through without any problem

I would be very surprised if anyone in TSA gives them a second look since the whole process remains rather fragmented.

As to the assertion from your friend about the quality of those drugs you are bringing in vs. being bought in Italy....you are a kind soul and helping somebody save a lot of money. All that fish and oil in Italy and yet the need to take a supplement...odd

If you want to know where your Omega 3 oil comes from, Google "Omega Proteins". It is a fascinating story. The company catches a bunch of fish called menhaden, boils them, skims off the oil, and sells the residue as cattle feed and fertilizer, depending on quality. They make somewhere between 90 and 95% of all the Omega 3 in the US.

It appears that you are bringing this in for your friend, not yourself. I hope you have a very good relationship with your doctor if you are doing to ask him/her to falsify a prescription. Some doctors even charge for that, even when it is legitimate and for their own patients (OTC prescriptions, not other ones). There is such a thing as an OTC prescription, though, it is required under new laws to deduct OTC drugs from a HSA or flexible health spending account. But in this case, you are carrying product for someone else, which is why I would never ask my doctor for that, to write a prescription for me when it is an item I intend to give/sell to someone else. Many physicians objected to the idea of writing legitimate OTC prescriptions for their own patients and charged a fee for it when the law changed that required them.

If you want to lie to your doctor, say you need it for a HSA claim.

I admit I wasn't diligent in researching what was allowed/not allowed on a recent trip to Paris, but FWIW I took 15 or so fish oil capsules and they weren't in my liquids bag, just in a small vitamin bottle in my carry-on...they didn't receive a second look. I realize that may be different than a full-size bottle. I also had a pair of scissors in my carry-on that passed the review of the TSA but were confiscated by the French authorities on my return. I think your chances are pretty good!

I have been bringing a months supply of fish oil gel whatever's a couple of times a year for years. No one has ever blinked an eye. Quite frankly I never even thought they would. If it was just liquid in the bottle, yes, but not pills.

If you are bringing a lot for a friend, you might want to send them ahead.

PS.. in addition I bring my vitamin Ds with the fish oil. D is in the same form.