CBP at pre-clearance says you can't carry the apple in to the US?
 

I don't know what we have become. My wife and our 5 years old child are both GE member with US passports, and on her return flight from YYZ to the States, the CBP offers sends me wife to inspection after she declared she had food which was cut pieces of apple for our child. The agent tells my wife she can't take it with her after she told him she has apple with her for our child to eat.

Is this a joke that you can't take apple in your back pack with you to the states? I thought it used to be prohibited food items like meat or seeds, etc. Anyone know if this is real? Thank you

And they always ask you very annoying questions like, where did you go, why, how long at any POE. I wonder if these questions are asked to all US citizens or just to US citizens with different color.

thanks

Please take a look at these threads:

But the OP does raise an interesting question, how do food/agriculture restrictions apply at pre-clearance locations versus when you physically go through customs on US soil?

Since one can buy and eat food after pre-clearance and before boarding the flight, how exactly do they police what you take onboard the aircraft? Are there signs/announcements informing you of restrictions before boarding?
I've flown YUL and YYZ to the US, and remember buying food items before departure and taking them on board, but it's been 5+ years, don't know if anything's changed recently.

In the OP's case, what happens if they had simply purchased an apple after preclearance?

apples have seeds....

I was once made to throw away an apple at PreClearance because it didn't have a sticker on it, stating its country of origin. I was told apples from some countries are allowed, some aren't, so they need to see the sticker. Clearly your sliced apple didn't have one.

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.

Spices and dried fruits are allowed precisely because they are dried out and can't carry disease. Fresh fruits are almost always not allowed (other than certain ones labeled with country of origin as mentioned upthread)

Food made available after preclearance (in airport and onboard the aircraft) has special supervision and has to have their production lines vetted and inspected by CBP. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/our...s-requirements

Thank you, that's an informative link.

In your second sentence, I think you meant fresh fruits are almost always NOT allowed?

In general, any fresh produce is not allowed.

For US case, it used to be able to bring some processed food which contained chicken. But after SARS event, the custom completely ban any food product that contains meat related ingredient. Even if you bring your instant noodle that label seafood or other meat flavor.

But is it a fruit?
 

I remember back in the late 70s, or early 80s, flying back from the UK into San Francisco. My mom had a tomato in her bag and it was found by US Customs at SFO. The customs officer flipped a switch and a red light started flashing. Another guy came over and took my mom's tomato away. It was quite an interesting scene with the red light going off. Felt like we'd been caught with a gun or something. Lol.

Cool
 

wow. That's awesome. Crazy that there was a court case about it.

Moderator's Note
 

Folks,

It is time for the periodic reminder that the Practical Travel Safety and Security Issues is informational (Sticky thread - Please Read: Important Information).

Members come here in search of practical advice and information to help them travel safely and with minimum hassle; please limit your postings here to asking for and providing practical information. Please limit your contributions here to discussing how food and agricultural restrictions apply at pre-clearance locations compared to when undergoing immigrations and customs inspections at US airports.

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TWA884
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