Randyk47

Absolutely. Having been given the "If you can eat it it's food" lecture once I declare any edible item. Let them fuss. Never heard of anybody having GE revoked for declaring food but certainly have for people not declaring a item even if a supposedly innocent oversight.

WalterSFO

are cookies/cakes/pastries allowed into the US, if they contain fruit filling? or will they be confiscated by US Customs? (flying from UK or Sweden back to the US)

chollie

I can't think of a reason they wouldn't be allowed, and I regularly bring similar things back myself.

Just be sure and declare them. No need to go into specific detail: just declare cookies/cakes/pastries.

StartinSanDiego

I once got scolded for bringing in half of a roast beef sandwich... his beef was the beef.

miamiflyer8

I've brought those things in without declaring, no problem at all.

Xyzzy

Well, if you dn;t declare and they don't search you then you wouldn't have a problem. But those items are, in fact, food. So you should declare them. If you don't and they find them you can get in trouble. That could mean BIG problems.

I can say as someone who declares such items on a regular basis that the most detailed questioning I've encountered has been being asked once if there was meat in the pastries, etc.

WalterSFO

as someone who has brought contraband items (haggis and Scottish meat pies) on US-bound flights, I have often wondered about that... I never declare them because I consume them on the plane crossing the Atlantic or, at the very latest, just before I get in the queue at US immigration. I was actually warned once by a CBP officer who said "no eating in line!"

I don't think I violated any import laws or lied about it on my customs declaration cards, because I wasn't "bringing" them... or does having them inside my mouth or stomach count? or did I become a human filter for such contraband meats?(British beer products, no less)

Section 107

Well, CBP and DEA and lots of US Attorneys definitely believe people who import drugs and other prohibited items into the country in their digestive tracts are violating a variety of laws, including failure to declare and possession. Which is why they don't want people eating in line, because that might be an attempt to conceal those items. In some cases, persons with suspected of ingesting prohibited items are detained in protective custody for however many hours as it takes until the items pass through the digestive system in the normal way.

Food consumed on the plane of course does not need to be declared. But if you had swallowed packages of the meat for later retrieval and consumption you might have had a spot of trouble.

TWA884

This is the Practical Travel Safety and Security Issues forum, which is the place to ask questions and get information to help you travel safely with minimal hassle. Before posting here, please ask yourself whether this is information that you need to know if you were traveling today.

Now that we know why there is no eating in line while waiting to see immigration and customs officers, please let's get back on topic, which is: "What kind of food you can bring into US?"

Thank you,

TWA884
Travel Safety/Securityco-moderator

kilarney

Does anyone know of a website that lists which fruits and vegetables may be brought into the United States?

I have poked around some of the government websites, and either I am too dense or they just aren't easy to use. A simple list is all I am looking for.

More specifically, the grocery store in Canada has some Iranian dates that I would love to bring into the United States. But I still can't figure out if I am allowed to.

seawolf

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/our...tronic-manuals

kilarney

Thank you - even if it confirmed that I cannot bring Iranian dates into the country.


I had a chance to play around with the website, and perhaps I am too dense to see how it is generally useful. It seems to be geared more toward commercial importers than travelers.

For example, when you search for "oranges - sweet", you get a list of several countries from which it is permissible to import oranges. If you click on the country of origin, it states that you need an import permit. As a traveler, without a commercial import permit, if I had an orange from any of those countries it would be confiscated by CBP.

So it seems that I am still in search of the website that is geared toward travelers and is easy to use. This website gets the job done, but it involves a lot of clicking for a simple answer. I was really hoping to find a website that says, "Hey, traveler - here are the foods that you can't bring into the United States."

But the website you provided definitely gets the job done with some effort.

Xyzzy

Unfortunately, regardless of what you learn from a web site you're still not guaranteed of a positive result. I've asked airport agricultural inspection agents about specific items that were listed as being K to bring in (in one case Hungarian sausages that were produced a specifically approved plant). Their response always seems to be that they can't comment on any specific item in advance as the rules are constantly changing. They encouraged me to bring my item(s) to the US and declare them so they can approve or disapprove of them. Not wanting to have to purchase and then surrender I just go without or buy the same items (at a huge markup) after they are commercially imported.

DanishFlyer

There is a travellers section, which may be more useful:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/res.../travelers-int

DanishFlyer

Athena53

A couple of pleasant surprises when I came in from Iceland last August. I'd been staying in an Airbnb apartment so had a few groceries left over. I took them with me and declared them all, and was able to bring in open packages/containers of ground coffee and peanut butter and half a bag of flax seeds (I snack on them). YMMV, but I decided to at least take a chance and declare them rather than leave them in the apartment or throw them away.

They may have less concern about what you eat in the airport because the biggest concern is bringing in unwanted pests that are a threat to our agriculture. I suppose there's no danger if you've already eaten the food.