Ellen Pompeo Detained by TSA, Bomb Squad for Sunflower Seeds

Ellen Pompeo may need to get her blood pressure checked after this recent airport experience.

The Grey’s Anatomy star revealed that she was recently detained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) while trying to catch a flight—all because of a salty snack she was bringing on board.

“I had a bag of sunflower seeds, like organic sunflower seeds from Erewhon, so they were probably the most expensive sunflower seeds money can buy,” she told Travel + Leisure in an interview published May 29. “They literally held me for an hour, and they brought the bomb squad in.”

And Pompeo couldn’t believe that her seeds—purchased from the upscale Los Angeles grocer known for the Hailey Bieber smoothie—prompted such a serious response.

“And I was like, what is happening? Is this a joke?” she recalled. “They said it was most likely a chemical on the packaging of these super expensive, fancy, organic, clean sunflower seeds. My protein on the plane!”