Benjamin.USA

Hey, my name is Benjamin.

Tomorrow / 1 july, i'm gonna travel to Canada and USA, from Europe.

My question is, do i need to declare my instant noodles in Canada or USA?
These do not contain any kinds of meat.

CANADA AIRPORT: Toronto Pearson International (YYZ), Toronto, Canada
USA AIRPORT: Orlando International (MCO), Orlando, United States of America

chgoeditor

The US Customs Declaration form asks if you're bringing food into the country. Your answer should be Yes.

gobluetwo

Yes, you must declare it when entering the US. Review the list at the link below.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...r-personal-use

Similarly, Canada says you must declare.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/inf.../1389648516990

EDIT: They do sell a very wide variety of instant noodles in the US and Canada, you know

Often1

The answer to your question is self evident. Do not overthink it. An image of the paper Customs form for the USA is at the link. It asks whether you are bringing food into the USA. The answer to that question is "yes" so that is what you should enter on your form (or screen if GE or other automated station). You will then be asked by an agent what sort of food and you should truthfully answer that question. As it is admissible food, you will be admitted with the food (presuming you are otherwise admissible).

http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizen...claration-form

For the sake of others who read these threads, it is always best to simply answer the question posed and to answer that question truthfully. Overthinking is what leads to what CBP may consider a false statement and for a non-USN, that can lead to needless trouble.

tanja

They want to know fresh foods.
When I was married (years ago ) to my last husband I wrote eVERYTHING down I bought in my home country. Gum/candy/undies and so on. My husband told me not to. And customs got angry with me for do that to. I wasted their time.
So fresh food. and that is also what I have been asked for.

yandosan

Yes, you must report instant noodles, also top or bottom Ramen.
Not doing so is a felony. That's what the got Al Capone on when
he evaded all the other charges.

tanja

I looked it up. It cant have meat or eggs in it. Otherwise it is fine. I am a veg. so I never buy things with eggs or meat.

LETTERBOY

Capone was convicted of tax evasion.

SeriouslyLost

You'd be hard pushed to find instant noodles that don't have animal products in them. More to the point, it's easier to declare everything and let Customs decide if they're interested. It's worth the 15 seconds it takes vs a $400 instant fine or losing GE.

tanja

Yes I do that since I dont eat animals at all. And why take in noodles at all? They have plenty of that in USA.
And like I said before I was lectured by very irritaed customs cause I declared my undies and candeles. They told me I was way out of line and dont bother them again with that kind of customs forms.

gobluetwo

The problem wasn't that you declared "food" or "clothing" but that you inventoried every item. They don't care that "clothing" includes 4 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of underwear, 7 t-shirts, and a pair of Jams. They just want to know "clothing" and the amount, or that you have food, but that it doesn't run afoul of customs regulations.

So yes, you do still have to declare that you have food if you have it, including instant noodles, but you don't have to itemize every food item you have with you.

In short - declare that you have "food" but don't worry about indicating that you X number of instant noodle packages, 3 packs of M&Ms, and a case of Toblerones.

Houston.Business

Declare it. I traveled world wide with instant & dried foods in my carry-on. Customs took one look, and said "Have a nice day".

VelvetJones

Simple answer. YES. Are they going to make a big deal out of it? No. As others have said, they're usually interested in fresh/live things. I've brought in dried tea, packaged candy, chips, and various other processed foods(including sealed beef jerky). I've never had them once look at it. But I did tell them about it every time. The most response I've ever gotten was "Those are all OK".

nmh1204

Yes, declare it. if it asks "do you have food" and you anser no, you'll get a fine or prison.

There's a programme on TV about Australian customs, and they regularly have people that have literally a supermarket trolley's worth of food packed in their case, and the customs card says something like "do you have food" in the language of the passenger, and they still say no.

Often1

The problem is that people never learn to simply answer the question asked. The question is whether you are transporting "food". If what you have is "food", the proper answer is "yes".

Trying to guess at why the question is being asked or answering some follow-up question which might be asked is simply bad practice.