Metal, bamboo, plastic… all will get the job done–whatever the job. 
We can be the knitting ninjas!
Seriously, the TSA confiscated my tziziki and hummus last month. I had wanted to check that bag, but the line was frighteningly long so I went through security with it.
Now I have some pralines and some spices to pack. I can pack the spices in a checked bag, but I’m afraid the pralines will melt. Can they get through security? Each one is individually wrapped and is about 1 ounce.
Put the pralines in a quart bag inside a gallon bag with ice. Dispose of the temporary gallon cooler right before you enter TSA.and use your quart bag to pass security.
Nephew almost missed his flight between two US cities because he had protein powder in his carry-on recently. The TSA agent did not appreciate nephew telling him politely it was chocolate protein powder and pulled him out for a complete screen of both him and his bag.
Now they are after your snacks!
^^^ ORD international terminal 5 was checking snacks last month. I always carry small bags of almond packaged by the manufacturer when I travel. (Emerald product - great for travel when a bit of energy is required immediately.) Although I had put my 5 single serving bags into one larger baggie so I could pull it out if necessary, I decided to chance it. I didn’t remove the almonds, everything went thru. The sandwich in front of me was examined. Sigh.
We flew in May—4 sepárate flights. Neither HNL, SFO nor SAN were inspecting snacks in precheck nor regular TSA (we had snacks in our hand carry luggage). I guess it sounds like it varies greatly by airport.
My carry-on bag containing only my knitting was flagged after being x-rayed in the Amsterdam airport last fall (metal circular needles). The woman dumped my knitting out of the bag as I politely begged her not to pull it off the needles. I mentioned that Aer Lingus hadn’t had a problem with it, and she snapped “you’re in Amsterdam now!” She did finally let me take it. She didn’t say anything about the thread snipper in the same bag.
In general, the pre-check lines we access with global entry tend to be pretty polite and efficient. We don’t have to remove from our hand carry luggage our bag of liquids, electronics, snacks, powders, or take off our shoes. We go thru a metal detector instead of full body scanner.
To me, $100 for 5 years of global entry is well worth reduced hassles at TSA and mistly much shorter lines.