I travel to Europe quite often and always carry four or five bags of beef jerky with me because certain friends I have just love it. I've never had a problem getting it into Europe. I've never brought it back with me though. CBP seem to be hard asses when it comes to meat and such on the way in. Even canned soup with meat in it is verboten!

I bring lots of cheese with me from Europe to the U.S., since cheese in Europe is much better than that orange-colored crap you buy in the stores at home. I list it on my blue form and am always questioned, but never have a problem with it, since it's "hard cheese" and not the moldy type.

I'm not sure why they'd freak out about beef jerky, though. It's not like it's "real" meat. With all the nitrates, nitrates, salt, sugar and whatnot, there's not a microorganism on the planet that would dig that stuff.