Irritating food reportedly hurts TSA agents at New York airport

By

Ian Simpson

and

Reuters

Christmas airline travelers are processed at a Transportation Safety Agency (TSA) security checkpoint December 23, 2014 at Dulles International Airport (IAD) in Sterling, Virginia, outside Washington, DC, during the hectic holiday travel week. AFP PHOTO / PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

Three Transportation Security Administration agents suffered minor eye injuries on Wednesday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport after they were exposed to an irritating food product while inspecting a carry-on bag, local media reported.

New York’s WABC said the bag set off an alarm at a checkpoint inside Terminal B, and a Port Authority official told the television station that the irritant was identified as a food substance.

Three agents were transported to Elmhurst Hospital Center with minor eye irritation, according to a New York Fire Department spokesman. A hazardous materials team was sent to the terminal after an emergency call at 5:30 a.m. local time, he said.

The incident caused the terminal’s Concourse D to be temporarily closed.

New York Port Authority officials did not respond to a request for comment.