I was so embarrassed!

[Y's_habibitk 2]

That sucks! I travel with food all the time. I know its hard when you bring a lot of food, but I usually keep it in sealed double packed containers (to prevent leaks) and keep it in my carry on.

Funny thing did happen last time I was at the airport. I was travelling within the US. I had a tightly packed carry on. And I got pulled on the side by the TSA screener after my bag when through the x-ray. He started going through my stuff, and then he said " look, I don't know what you have in there, but I don't have time to look. If you have to go through security again before you final destination, you might want to check this bag. They'll stop you again" So much for homeland security..... I couldn't believe he didn't have time to check, what if I did have something that was dangerous?

I think that everytime Im waved right through customs at the TJ border from Mexico.

citizen? yes

anything to declare? no

ok go ahead

[Lansbury 19]

Why do you think it was a drug dog, they have dogs to detect food as well.

[Nessa 23]

both times i came to the states i had brazilian nuts covered in chocolate in my purse. no biggy.

[natty bumppo 297]

certain foods are a non issue.

other food types ... just be careful you don't invite a full cavity search

[Arazia 0]

I've found that sometimes you also get issues due to being a PR instead of a Citizen. My husband and I both came in on the same flight. Mistakenly, I filled out separate declaration sheets, but with the same information. Same declarations. We were sharing luggage so I forgot which ones certain things got into anyways. They let me (U.S. Citizen) through fine, stopped my husband... and then yelled at him because he didn't have all the luggage. -.-; I felt so bad at the time. All we had were some chocolates and a couple of nick-nack gifts, but they gave him such a hard time over it. Blarg.

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Berber Mama 5]

I've had my suitcase searched on two separate occasions. Once in Paris it was believed that I was carrying something of an explosive nature which turned out to be a tagine. The other time it was a suitcase crammed full of chocolate bars and candies which apparently looks suspicious on a xray machine. I feel your pain and embarassment. It comes along with international travel.

I have brought back food, spices and dates to the US. I never declared anything and never got checked.

[Sister Fracas 5]

Hubster bought cured meat in Italy, IN the duty-free shop that was taken away because it was not "in a tin", whatever difference that makes. It made him so mad that something sold in duty-free, where they should be able to tell you if you can bring it into your own country, can be taken away.

Edited to add...needless to say, he declared it, and he's never doing that again. He's brought back lots of foods since then, including a case of his favorite English crisps that were easily identifiable...lol

Edited February 2, 2009 by Sister Fracas

[JODO 2]

Thanks for the responses. I am cringing just thinking about what happened. I will never bring food back again. I have been scared straight.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Thanks for the responses. I am cringing just thinking about what happened. I will never bring food back again. I have been scared straight.

Crime never pays.

[JODO 2]

Thanks for the responses. I am cringing just thinking about what happened. I will never bring food back again. I have been scared straight.

Crime never pays.

Except if your name is Madoff.

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Shad and Dani 3]

I think the reason you can't bring in meat is because of foot and mouth disease

Exactly. These policies are in place to protect Americans!

[rin and john 71]

About nine months after 9/11, my oldest daughter and I were returning from the Cayman Islands. We got thru immigration and customs in Atlanta, then onto security screening. At security, they asked if they could check my backpack. "Have at it, sir". Back then, they frequently swabbed your bag and placed it into a tester to identify explosives. My daughter and I went about collecting our shoes, other bags, etc.

After a few minutes, the security guard asked if he could also test my laptop. "No problem, go ahead". I figured they were testing out new equipment and we had lots of time to make our connection. We waited a minute or so, then the baggage screener called over his supervisor and told me that both my bag and laptop tested positive!

I asked him exactly what they were testing for? He replied the test equipment identifies chemicals used in explosives such as nitrogen compounds, glycerin, etc. That's when the chemical engineering degree paid off. "You mean glycerin? Like the glycerin found in most suntan lotions?" I dug thru my bag and showed him our bottle of lotion with the ingredients listed (including glycerin). He laughed, said it wasn't a problem, that they just had to notify Delta (my carrier) of the positive test. We had no problems getting to the gate or onto the plane (other than my nerves being shot). It sure scared the heck out of me and for months afterwards whenever I was selected for additional security screening, I wondered if there was a red flag in the system!

Edited February 2, 2009 by rin and john

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Playmobil Security Check Point

http://www.amazon.com/Playmobil-3172-Secur..._pr_product_top

Edited February 3, 2009 by Far2Long