Originally Posted by N1120A

California airports, from the perspective of what you are undoubtedly legally required (as opposed to a sleazy catch all that would probably not pass muster if ever challenged, if anyone wanted to go through that pain) to declare, are not more strict as to what you need to declare. They MAY be more strict as to what you would be allowed to keep after said declaration and inspection. Now, I will say that my experience is that I'm more consistently asked about "food" by inspectors at SFO, in particular, than most other airports in the US, including at LAX and SAN. My guess is that it is related to some sort of directive there, as well as a heightened consciousness of the differences in California's agricultural import laws than other countries.