Originally Posted by exerda

A little off-topic, but a lot of people bring back unpasteurized cheeses from Europe, where they're legal and of no harm to anyone. They're not only illegal to bring back to the US, but illegal to have in the US, period. The silly FDA is concerned people can catch things like lysteriosis from raw-milk cheeses that aren't hard and aged at least 60 days (parmesan, for instance, is "safe" due to its dryness and aging) This is complete crap by the FDA, of course--there are no documented cases of death and very few of illness from consuming raw milk cheeses in the US, but we're such a safety conscious society that Uncle Sam has to decide what risks we can take... next thing you know, they'll ban any steaks cooked to less than well-done

In the past, the Customs agents have had a bit of a spitting contest with the FDA over funding and have pretty much ignored violations of the rules. I don't know how this is anymore, but I don't intend to find out anytime soon. Seems they would be able to smell most cheeses you bring back.