Originally Posted by
Sherab Sherab
I bring foods such as spices, flours, snacks like dry fruits and never been asked to throw away or seized at airport arrival by CBP except for those that has labels showing meat or seeds like a packaged noodle. And many Asians and south asians bring these when they return to the US after a visit to their home country.
This is why it baffled me when my my wife was not allowed to carry some cut pieces of apply in a small zip lock bag at pre clearance at YYZ. She replied she is from the States and was in Canada for few days to meet relatives. An apple from Canada is not safe?
Anyway we now know fruit is not allowed, strange yeah but it is good to know.
What's actually going on here: CBP doesn't actually give a hoot about fruit. The actual issue is what might be coming along with that fruit. That's why dried fruit is treated differently than fresh fruit--the dried stuff generally isn't going to be carrying pests. Anything that could be carrying a pest or disease that we don't already have in the US is prohibited. They have huge lists of such materials, whether it's allowed or not, which can be conditional based on where it's from and even some other factors.