PUBLISHED:23:18 EST, 3 September 2012| UPDATED:23:23 EST, 3 September 2012
Travelers’ angst is being taken up a notch now that TSA agents are adding yet another seemingly arbitrary security check at airports.
The federal agency is now deploying its staff to test beverages purchased by travelers after they were screened at the security checkpoint.
Video from the Columbus, Ohio Airport, uploaded to YouTube on Monday, show security personnel canvassing a departure gate, asking people at random if they could check their drinks for explosives.
Scroll down for video.
It looks like water but you never know: TSA Agents at the Columbus, Ohio airport test a woman’s water bottle at the departure gate
‘I couldn’t help but notice the two TSA women that were ‘testing’ any and all liquids that people had in their hands.’
‘Now remember that this is inside the terminal, well beyond the security check and purchased inside the terminal … just people waiting to get on the plane,’ according to the traveler who took the video and posted the footage on YouTube.
‘My wife and son came back from a coffee shop just around the corner, then we were approached. I asked them what they were doing. One of the TSA ladies said that they were checking for explosive chemicals (as we are drinking them). I said ‘really..inside the terminal? You have got to be kidding me.’
‘I asked them if they wanted to swab us all. She responded with something like, yes sometimes we need to do that. I then asked if she wanted a urine sample.
‘The TSA is way out of control. I understand that my ranting to one of these $11.00 per hour TSA goons probably does nothing, but you have to say something. Whats next…perhaps the TSA will come to your home prior to your drive to the airport? The police state of the U.S. is OUT OF CONTROL!’
Before you drink that, let’s test for explosives: TSA Agents also inspect a man’s Starbucks Coffee
Liquid test: Agents test a passenger’s coconut water in their beverage security screen
Analysts say the TSA is not detailing if the new measures are in response to any new threat.
The agency first began limiting the amount of liquids passengers could take on board in 2006, when security officials say a UK bomb plot, that relied on liquid explosives, was foiled.
Currently all liquids, gels and aerosols must be 3.4 ounces or smaller to take on board.
But once a passenger’s bag is screened at the security checkpoint at the airport terminal, travelers are free to purchase liquids of any size at the concession stands before they board the plane.
‘They’re worried someone could bring an ingredient past security and then mix it with a drink that turns into something else – a poison or something else,’ Ryan Mauro, a national security analyst, told FOX News in July, when the new TSA security measures were first noticed.
Travelers often complain about seemingly arbitrary security measures taken by TSA agents (like those pictured at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif.)
Though the agency has not confirmed the motivation for the increased visibility of the new measure, analysts suspect it could be linked to a new threat by a Norwegian al Qaeda member, who has a spotless record and is not listed on any watch list, allowing him to travel freely.
In June, reports emerged the man had been trained in Yemen to blow up a U.S. airliner.
‘TSA employs multiple layers of security throughout the airport where passengers may be randomly selected for additional screening,’ the agency said in a statement this summer in response to the beverage crack down.
‘One measure may include testing liquids that are in a passenger’s possession,’ the statement added
