Ellen Pompeo says she was detained by TSA, bomb squad over sunflower seeds

'It was really like no one would ever believe this! I was texting my publicist saying, "I might not get on this plane, and you're never gonna guess why,"' Pompeo said.

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo revealed that she was recently detained by the Transportation Security Administration when she was trying to catch a flight, all due to a snack she was bringing on a plane.

“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,” Pompeo told Travel + Leisure in an interview. “They literally held me for an hour, and they brought the bomb squad in.”

The 55-year-old actor said she couldn’t believe what was happening and thought it was a joke at first.

“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!” she said.

Pompeo said she asked the TSA agents whether they could just throw out the sunflower seeds, but they said they needed her to wait for the bomb squad to assess them.

“I almost missed the flight. It was really like no one would ever believe this! I was texting my publicist saying, ‘I might not get on this plane, and you’re never gonna guess why,'” she added.

Pompeo also admitted that she is a nervous flyer and tries to lie low on flights so fans don’t recognize her.

“People recognize my voice, so I try not to talk,” she said. “I try to use sign language with my kids. The minute I open my mouth, everybody turns.”