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Old Jul 30, 2014, 4:29 pm
  #1  
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Food allowed into London.....

I looked online and think the answer to this is yes, but, I just wanted to double check.

I now, sigh, need to watch my glucose and want to bring in some low sugar items. Peanut Butter, Jelly and fruitbars. It looks like the only thing not allowed is:

Meat
Meat products
Milk and dairy products
Potatoes

Yay? Nay?

Last edited by lesliegolf; Jul 30, 2014 at 4:40 pm
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Old Jul 30, 2014, 4:32 pm
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The items you want to bring in are all OK to bring in... but are you sure you can't get them in the UK?
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Old Jul 30, 2014, 4:38 pm
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Originally Posted by Aviatrix
The items you want to bring in are all OK to bring in... but are you sure you can't get them in the UK?
Same thing crossed my mind. I might, but, I really do not want to be stuck with no low sugar options for two weeks if not.
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Old Jul 30, 2014, 4:58 pm
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Originally Posted by lesliegolf
Same thing crossed my mind. I might, but, I really do not want to be stuck with no low sugar options for two weeks if not.
I've found I have to watch labels to make sure I don't get sugar-free or low-sugar versions of various drinks when I'm in the UK. Not that I'm a sugar glutton -- far from it -- but I really dislike artificial sweeteners, and I've found they're a lot more prevalent in British products.
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Old Jul 30, 2014, 6:05 pm
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Traveling within Europe I've never had a problem with cheese and sausages, be it in my carry on or my checked luggage. Jam I've only tried checked-in. If there's any particular products you're after though, have a look at the online shopping sections of Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco. They are all evenly scattered across London, but you can also type in the postcode of where you are staying on their sites and they will list their closest branch.
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Old Jul 30, 2014, 6:06 pm
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Food allowed into London.....

I'm confused. Why would you bring in such items when you can buy them locally?
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Old Jul 30, 2014, 6:11 pm
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Originally Posted by Goldfox
Traveling within Europe I've never had a problem with cheese and sausages, be it in my carry on or my checked luggage. Jam I've only tried checked-in. If there's any particular products you're after though, have a look at the online shopping sections of Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco. They are all evenly scattered across London, but you can also type in the postcode of where you are staying on their sites and they will list their closest branch.
Traveling within Europe there are virtually no restrictions.

From the US you should be fine (unless you bring in almonds/almond butter).
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Old Jul 31, 2014, 8:56 am
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Meat doesn't have sugar in it. Load up on bangers.
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Old Jul 31, 2014, 3:50 pm
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Originally Posted by Goldfox
Traveling within Europe I've never had a problem with cheese and sausages, be it in my carry on or my checked luggage. Jam I've only tried checked-in. If there's any particular products you're after though, have a look at the online shopping sections of Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco. They are all evenly scattered across London, but you can also type in the postcode of where you are staying on their sites and they will list their closest branch.
Thank you for pointing out the local markets. None of these places has the items I am planning to pack according to their websites.
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Old Jul 31, 2014, 3:51 pm
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Originally Posted by Homer15
Traveling within Europe there are virtually no restrictions.

From the US you should be fine (unless you bring in almonds/almond butter).
Had no idea about almond butter being an issue. Thanks!
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Old Jul 31, 2014, 4:25 pm
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Originally Posted by lesliegolf
Had no idea about almond butter being an issue. Thanks!
I'm not sure that it would be--does anybody know? US almonds are pasteurized, and the EU bans sales and processing of pasteurized almonds and products containing them, because it deems the chemicals used in the process to be a health risk. However, bringing in a small quantity for personal consumption presumably is a different matter.

They're not mentioned as being prohibited in the Revenue & Customs materials, and AFAIK you're allowed to bring in small quantities of food with banned food colorings and so forth for personal consumption. (Yikes--should I have been declaring my hard candies that may have evil E numbers?) Unlike with things like meat or fresh fruits, which may contain bacteria, insects, etc., there's no risk of cross-contamination.

Edited to Add: Not everything that the supermarkets you checked out is available online. I've seen quite a few low-sugar or sugar-free products in London supermarkets. Also, there are natural foods stores that might have them--you could look at the Holland & Barrett chain, but there are independents, too.

Last edited by Giggleswick; Jul 31, 2014 at 4:48 pm
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Old Jul 31, 2014, 4:45 pm
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Holland and Barrett is where you need to be buying your snacks

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/

There are about 60 branches in London alone.
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Old Jul 31, 2014, 5:09 pm
  #13  
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Thank you guys for pointing out Holland and Barrett! This will be of great help. Perfect place to put together some trail mix.
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Old Jul 31, 2014, 6:54 pm
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Originally Posted by Giggleswick
I'm not sure that it would be--does anybody know? US almonds are pasteurized, and the EU bans sales and processing of pasteurized almonds and products containing them, because it deems the chemicals used in the process to be a health risk. However, bringing in a small quantity for personal consumption presumably is a different matter.

They're not mentioned as being prohibited in the Revenue & Customs materials, and AFAIK you're allowed to bring in small quantities of food with banned food colorings and so forth for personal consumption. (Yikes--should I have been declaring my hard candies that may have evil E numbers?) Unlike with things like meat or fresh fruits, which may contain bacteria, insects, etc., there's no risk of cross-contamination.

Edited to Add: Not everything that the supermarkets you checked out is available online. I've seen quite a few low-sugar or sugar-free products in London supermarkets. Also, there are natural foods stores that might have them--you could look at the Holland & Barrett chain, but there are independents, too.

I thought I had seen something somewhere about UK being concerned about aflatoxins (which I guess might suggest the US is not pasteurizing almonds enough) but you are probably right that that does not apply for personal use, so don't listen to me.
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Old Jul 31, 2014, 7:30 pm
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Originally Posted by Homer15
I thought I had seen something somewhere about UK being concerned about aflatoxins (which I guess might suggest the US is not pasteurizing almonds enough) but you are probably right that that does not apply for personal use, so don't listen to me.
The EU has regulations relating to aflatoxins, the principal implication of which is that brazil nuts are not allowed to come from Brazil (or Bolivia). If I remember rightly they come from somewhere random like Belgium.

This film starring animated nuts explains it at the 12.30 mark

http://vimeo.com/4557989
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