SF Chronicle: helpful article on bringing 'foreign food' into the U.S.

I know they say it may get taken but I have declared cheese and tinned foie gras

for YEARS, even during the height of the hoof and mouth outbreak and never had it taken.

 
Good stuff, I once had a pepperoni confiscated by Canadian customs coming home from Italy. I was so

mad!! Too bad they don't have an article like that for Canada.

 
The Canadian govt is ridiculous when it comes to foreign food

It's only very recently we've been allowed to import real Italian mortadella and Parma ham, and even today a lot of smoked or otherwise cured meats are forbidden, including pancetta. (Although some independents are making their own prosciutto and lardo and things like that, and they are amazing, they are not QUITE the same as the authentic goods).

When I was growing up in the 60s, my grandmother used to come from England every Christmas. Customs would always ask if she had anything to declare, and she'd always say in her Scottish brogue, "No, just a pound of rashers." They always let her through, and my family would always laugh at how dense the Customs guys were for not knowing what rashers were!

It's worth noting, though, that cured meats and hard cheeses that are shrink-wrapped are acceptable for import, and when I was in Italy last spring, I noticed many shops advertising that they could ship shrink-wrapped food to Canada and the States.

 
I would not be sure about the "cured" meats.

I think they have to be cooked. I have brought back any number of different cheeses, hard and soft. Well, mostly soft, because that's what we can't get here.

 
Canadian Customs is still stinging over a complete herd being totally obliterated by what they

traced back to being imported Hungarian sausage.

I've found them to be reasonable, but you have to know the rules beforehand and it helps to know the reasons for their concerns.

 
Mimi, I had a similar experience coming home from Italy....

I arrived back in Boston, with an horrendous cold, no less. I had bought an hermetically sealed sausage in Italy and had it in my carry-on bag. A pinch-faced USDA inspector grabbed it from the bag, shook it in my face, and told me I could not keep it, as it contained "nasty viruses". I was tempted to ask her if I would also be cast into her bin of contraband, as I also was harboring a "nasty virus". Something told me to keep my mouth shut...as she had not found my cheese!

I did manage to get a wheel of Camenbert in from France, but it was by subterfuge....I didn't declare it. Was some-good-eating!

 
You just cannot bring in sausage from anywhere no matter how badly the officer

misrepresented it. You CAN bring in cheese.

 
I KNEW there had to be an upside to living here smileys/smile.gif

I brought 10 pounds of cheese, 8 pounds of coffe, truffles and ham and sausages home with me from Toscana/Italy two years ago. My carry on was actually two huge coolers smileys/bigsmile.gif

 
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