Brining food products into the US?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Are you going through Customs at Dorval or just catching a connecting flight? I know my sister had her fruit confiscated at MCO on a flight from MAN.... but it was in her hand luggage. With the x-ray machines all the luggage goes through now they may see the mangoes as suspicious and remove them anyway.

To clarify--I haven't booked any such flight, but asking it hypothetically, using a return connexion path of MAA-(EUR)-YUL-IAD so as to be able to use the PFI at Dorval (which I suspect WOULD require clearance of Canuck customs before going to the PFI).

[AlinaH 38]

My mom always goes down to Washington to buy her cheese and butter from costco....sooo much cheaper than here. They don't usually care about food unless its beef or fruits/vegetables. We always have snack foods and stuff in the car when we cross the border. You should be fine

[brightskte 18]

mmmmm...this means we can maybe smuggle some of that fluffy bread Mathew used to buy. Ohhhh fluffy bread, I missed youuuuuuuuuuu.

[prakriti 0]

My mom always goes down to Washington to buy her cheese and butter from costco....sooo much cheaper than here. They don't usually care about food unless its beef or fruits/vegetables. We always have snack foods and stuff in the car when we cross the border. You should be fine

Canada has the Milk Mafia. Dairy prices are inflated by something like 120%.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Random but your Ketchup Chips (had to google them) are called Heinz Big Red Tomato Sauce chips here and I LOVE them. Have a huge back sitting in the pantry as we speak. Can't waste them

[ladygothic 0]

So, on A's last visit up here we came across these soybean and chickpea snackfoods and were very much interested in them. I have a peanut allergy so snacky alternatives like this are rare for me. Having said that, I know produce isn't generally allowed over the border either way but since these fall more into snackfood category than raw produce would they be likely to allow it? They're grown locally and packaged like any other snack item. I'm visitng A for Thanksgiving (US Thanksgiving) and was hoping to bring some down.

You will have no problem bringing that. I sent my fiance back to GA from ON, a suitcase full of 10 boxes whole grain pasta! LOL It's very expensive down there ($5 a box) and limited selection, I got here about 75 cents each coupon sale use.

[Colleens 40]

Random but your Ketchup Chips (had to google them) are called Heinz Big Red Tomato Sauce chips here and I LOVE them. Have a huge back sitting in the pantry as we speak. Can't waste them

I have bought the Heinz ones here, and the taste is no where comparable to the Lay's ketchup chips!!! I LOVE ketchup chips and I had a hard time getting through a bag of the Heinz ones, they just didn't taste quite right.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I have bought the Heinz ones here, and the taste is no where comparable to the Lay's ketchup chips!!! I LOVE ketchup chips and I had a hard time getting through a bag of the Heinz ones, they just didn't taste quite right.

sorry should specify.. AUSTRALIA has Heinz chips.. not surprised if US ones taste odd.. after all so does their bread, cheese, candy, chocolate... **shudder** thats why I'm bringing stuff from Aus back

[warlord 72]

I have bought the Heinz ones here, and the taste is no where comparable to the Lay's ketchup chips!!! I LOVE ketchup chips and I had a hard time getting through a bag of the Heinz ones, they just didn't taste quite right.

Check to see if you can find Burger Kings Ketchup Chips. They don't look like the typical round chip, but more like a french fry shape (still the same as a regular chip) with the same ketchup flavoring on it. They weren't too bad, though I haven't seen them for awhile as they never go over well here. People say they taste interesting, but not something they'd want to go out and buy. One of my friends tried a bag of ketchup chips I brought back from Canada and thought they were horrible...

[Sc0tt28 26]

Ok, so the deal with food crossing the border into the U.S. goes something like this:

Citrus is never ok.

Meats (including beef for the one post I saw indicating otherwise) are Ok...EXCEPT for lamb or goat meat which are not ok.

Any fresh fruits or vegetables (with the exception of citrus which is never ok) are generally ok as long as they are labeled with where they are grown. If they are grown in the US or Canada, they are fine.

For example:

Apples grown in Washington, bought in Canada, and carried into the US are fine.

Apples grown in Canada, carried into the US are fine.

Apples grown in Japan are not ok.

Hence the labels being important, if there is no label it cannot be 'proven' that they were grown in the US or Canada

Seasonal fruits are another source of contention. If they are out of season, they will probably be confiscated. I've seen this happen with grapes.

One last thing to remember. "Tropical" fruits are not allowed either. Lychees, rambutans, mangoes, dragon fruit, etc.