You can't take it with you....

[foodie52]

I know...it's ridiculous, but I just want to do it.

I'm flying to England from the USA next week. My host in England wants me to bring Velveeta so that we can make queso for New Year's Eve. Therein lies the problem....

Another friend of mine put a few blocks of it in her suitcase a few months ago with the intent to take it to our mutual friend. Imagine her bemusement when, on arrival at Gatwick, she found the Velveeta gone and a note in her suitcase saying that her bags had been searched and potentially harmful materials had been confiscated.....

I know...Velveeta on an Xray screen looks like a block of some sort of explosive. So my question is, should I bother to strip the Velveeta of its foil wrapper and hand-carry it on, wrapped in Saran, or should I just forget about it???

Any other Flying Food stories out there??

[fifi]

Yes, I had a friend flying to France that was (for whatever bizarre reason) carrying a block of velveeta and a can of RoTel tomatoes. Same reason. His friends wanted t recreate that "white trash" dip stuff. (Hey, I like it. ) You are right on. Wrap it in Saran and put it in your carry-on so you can explain it. If you put it in your checked luggage it will likely be discarded. If it looks suspicious, they will just discard and not waste the time trying to confirm that it is not plastic explosive. (Though, some would say the Velveeta is just as dangerous. )

[Suzanne F]

And bring a plastic spoon (NOT knife!) so that you can scoop some off, eat it, and offer it to security should they question you -- on the same order as the former ritual of turning on your laptop computer.

[scrat68]

You could try Cheez Whiz which comes in a jar - maybe it looks less suspicious. As far as I know, it tastes the same as velveeta...

[denise_jer]

I was stopped by airport security with a round of Chihuahua cheese. They asked me three times what it was, asked me about the electronics in my bag (i.e. my walkman!) and rubbed some cloth on it to check for explosive residue. I would definitely suggest taking it out and putting it in plastic wrap so you can go, "Look, it's just cheese!"

[lamb]

How about presliced Velvetta.

Not as suspicious as a block, possibly.

edited for speeling

Edited December 29, 2003 by lamb (log)

[Katherine]

I think you should carry it in the unopened box, with plastic bags to put it in if tbey want to cut it open to look.

The inner wrapper says Velveeta on it!

Cheezwiz is not a substitute for Velveeta.

[Al_Dente]

Perhaps you could mold it into the shape of something else. Maybe a garden gnome. Use food coloring to paint it.

[elyse]

Didn't we just have this entire conversation?

[jhlurie]

Didn't we just have this entire conversation

Yes. We did. And since the other version of this topic got plenty of responses, I don't think we need a duplication. Although to keep things in perspective, the other topic did start out as simply an inquiry about buying Velveeta in the UK--it only diverted into the airport security aspect later on.

So let's focus on the last line of Foodie's post:

"Any other Flying Food stories out there??"

If you want to continue the Velveeta/Queso specific advice, go do so in that other thread. If you have other tales of "smuggling" food though airports, past overly suspicious post-9/11 security, and across borders, by all means discuss it here.

I'm also removing the Velveeta reference from the topic subtitle to reflect this, and I slightly changed the title of the other topic to make it more inclusive of alternate methods of getting Velveeta into the UK.

[AzRaeL]

i think Limburger or Munster could be used as a terrorist weapon on a plane. Just put it in the ventilation ducts.

[sockettrousers]

I have a friend who regularly has burritos smuggled into France from San Diego. They have to be frozen and encased in styrofoam to last the trip.

I on the other hand smuggle black pudding back from England to France everytime I visit. anyone who visits gets the same request.

Airport food smuggling is an icebreaker discussion for all ex-pats :-) I know Japanese people who regulalry smuggle kilos and kilos of rice whenever they leave Japan.

[sockettrousers]

I have a friend who regularly has burritos smuggled into France from San Diego. They have to be frozen and encased in styrofoam to last the trip.

I on the other hand smuggle black pudding back from England to France everytime I visit. anyone who visits gets the same request.

Airport food smuggling is an icebreaker discussion for all ex-pats I also know Japanese people who regulalry smuggle kilos and kilos of rice whenever they leave Japan.

[Pan]

Am I the only one here who disapproves of food smuggling? There are reasons for restrictions on the transportation of perishable food items, you know. Lots of diseases have been spread by the transportation of agricultural goods from one place to another. I like to check things with a consular official if I'm in doubt.

[fresco]

Pan, I'm with you as far as bringing in seeds, cuttings, etc. that could take root where they shouldn't.

But don't see the harm in bringing cheeses, tinned goods or things in bottles back from overseas. Still, there is usually no reason to smuggle, especially if you live in a large city, where damn near everything from everywhere is available if you willing to look.

[Pan]

Right. And fruit, which of course normally contains seeds.

Things in cans or bottles are normally 100% legal to take with you, anyway, are they not?

The regulations on cheeses have been discussed a great deal and nothing much needs to be added.

I wouldn't think that smuggling cheese would be a risk to agriculture or of contagion to people in the country you're brining the cheese into, but I'd love for someone to correct me if I'm wrong. And since the U.S. prohibition against unpasteurized cheeses is presumably based on the idea that that could protect only the people who eat the cheese, if the person smuggling in the unpasteurized cheese is willing to take the risk, I agree that there's no harm in smuggling it if you won't get caught.

[jschyun]

People definitely should not be bringing in any sort of produce into the country. I think the screeners should do a better job of checking for this. It really irritates me to hear about people bringing back a piece of their trip, in the form of a plant in a flask. Seeds are probably less of a threat, but they still can spread seedborne diseases if the seeds weren't grown out in an environment that would reveal them.

But cheese? I suppose it's possible that the spores in the cheese will proliferate and cause widespread ecological disruption, but it's unlikely, as you don't plant them, you eat em. Even juice is okay, for the same reason.

I would think Velveeta is even less of a threat, because I don't think they actually age it. Also, the salt in that stuff will kill anything it comes in contact with.

In general, I personally think it's okay to "smuggle" goods into the country, as long as it is not any sort of agricultural item.

If in doubt, declare. You'll be doing a service to your country. I always declare and never have a problem.

[Schneier]

Put it all in your carry-on, and you shouldn't have any trouble.

[AzRaeL]

Airport food smuggling is an icebreaker discussion for all ex-pats :-) I know Japanese people who regulalry smuggle kilos and kilos of rice whenever they leave Japan.

that's cuz the rice elsewhere just dont taste the same

[jhlurie]

Wouldn't they be more likely to smuggle rice IN to Japan? I believe Japan still bans all importing of rice, thus if someone were "smuggling" that would seem to yield better results.

Then again, if we are talking about the small quantity someone could fit into a suitcase, perhaps it would more likely go the other way. Look what westerners are sometimes willing to pay for Japanese beef.

[Pan]

Is Japanese rice unavailable in foreign countries like the U.S.?

[sockettrousers]

Is Japanese rice unavailable in foreign countries like the U.S.?

A lot of the really high end Japanese grown rice varieties are not available outside Japan. Japanese rice is relatively easy to get in the US but other countries vary. It was until recently difficult to get in the UK and is still pretty tough to get in France

Wouldn't they be more likely to smuggle rice IN to Japan?

Japan is no longer self sufficient in rice, the government dropped this requirement (in force since the war) a few years ago. I imagine the subsidies they were having to pay to encourage farming were just too much to bear. The Japanese only really import Japanese style rice from the US as far as I know. There isn't much consumption of other varieties.

rog

Edited January 2, 2004 by sockettrousers (log)

[Katherine]

re rice imports to Japan. Japan is no longer self sufficient in rice, the government dropped this requirement (in force since the war) a few years ago. I imagine the subsidies they were having to pay to encourage farming were just too much to bear.

I recall they were forced to allow imports when they had a major crop failure one year.

[Pan]

I thought Japan imported a fair amount of Thai rice. No?

[misgabi]

Back in 1990 I "smuggled" McDonalds into Papua New Guinea (10 cheeseburgers and 5 fillet-o-fish), for the poor deprived staff of the High Commission. I made a fortune selling them off to the highest bidder!!!

It was the start of what was to be the beginning of expats bringing into the country the fast food everybody craved - but no-one else ever dared do it. Ahh - youth (and gross stupidity) I guess !!!