Have you ever stood in line at the airport? It can be quite annoying, to be honest. All those checks and security precautions just slow everything down. But not always are they looking for bombs or weapons. Sometimes, the reason for all the wait is the little round object in your bag. Can you guess what it is? It’s that shiny, yellow apple. Believe it or not, this delicious, little fruit can be quite the bother to the agriculture enforcement team. And not just that fruit, but any kind of food or vegetation from a foreign country. Why, you ask? It’s because of the extra passengers who are hitching a free ride.

Every year, hundreds to thousands of food products, vegetation, or pet products are confiscated to protect the country from foreign pest outbreaks. As ridiculous as it sounds, an outbreak can occur (and has occurred) from just one pest, let’s say a little fruit fly. This single outbreak costs California over $100 million to eliminate the problem that that very fruit fly caused.

It’s important to remember that bombs and knives aren’t the only things that can endanger your life, especially when travelling from country to country. So, next time the security guards prompt you to take off your shoes and put your bag on the conveyor belt, just feel a little more secure in the fact that they’re making sure there are no teeny, tiny terrorists hopping aboard the plane.