TSA strikes back in 'Cupcake-gate'

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The Transportation Security Administration has started fighting back after its confiscation of a cupcake in a jar in Las Vegas went viral on the Internet.

In a blog on its Web site Monday, the TSA defended its agent's actions last month at McCarran International Airport and said the cupcake wasn't one in a liner, but a confection in a jar that had too much "gel-like" substance -- frosting -- to pass inspection, the New York Daily News reported.

"I wanted to make it clear that this wasn't your everyday, run-of-the-mill cupcake. If you're not familiar with it, we have a policy directly related to the U.K. liquid bomb plot of 2006 called 3-1-1 that limits the amount of liquids, gels and aerosols you can bring in your carry-on luggage," blogger Bob Burns wrote.

The blog also assured travelers that cakes, cookies and pies normally are fine.

Burns defended the TSA officer's right to confiscate the cupcake, saying the container is why authorities should take a closer look, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"[Intelligence] gathered from all over the world tells us ... that unless Wile E. Coyote is involved, the days of the three sticks of dynamite with a giant alarm clock strapped to them are long gone," Burns wrote. "When you think about it, do you think an explosive would be concealed in an ominous item that would draw attention, or something as simple as a cute cupcake jar?"

He noted two attempted attacks on airplanes involving liquid or gel-like substances, one in 1995 and another in 2006.

Rebecca Hains of Peabody, Mass., the traveler with the criminal cupcake, changed her Twitter biography to include "Cupcake Terror Expert!" and created a Facebook page called Rebecca and the Threatening Cupcake, the Times said.