Orlando Airport

[katytrott]

Despite quite a few trips, I'm wracking my brain trying to think how to declare?! I know I've gone through with plenty of food on every trip, having kids to entertain, and I'd imagine there is very few UK people who don't have snacks with them for a 9hr flight! I can't think of any time I've declared.

I do remember one trip I did panic when we waiting to get off the plane and handed a small bag with some bananas in to the air stewardess - she looked id just asked her to take a bag of frogs!!

Questions therefore.......
1: My 11month old doesn't have a ticket and so BA have said they won't provide him with any food, therefore I will be taking food with me for him. How do I declare this?
2: Obviously, being the perfect model of a Mum (!) I will be taking healthy food with us for him that will include fruit/veg/dairy. Am I not to take that anywhere near to US soil?
3: Is it ok to hand leftover food to the air stewards? I would have assumed reading this thread that the air stewards get food dumped on them all the time, but the reaction I got makes me think not!

Thanks everyone!

 

[disneyholic family]

editing to provide the following link to the US govt website:
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/agricultural-items

the website says to declare everything and let the customs officer decide if it's ok to bring it in or not..

but after witnessing bad things happening to people who brought in fresh fruit, my advice would be to leave fresh fruit/veg on the plane and not take chances...

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[disneyholic family]

here's another website - not government, but the US customs site linked to this site

http://www.dontpackapest.com/

i forgot - they now use dogs to sniff out produce in your luggage...

 

[disneyholic family]

Despite quite a few trips, I'm wracking my brain trying to think how to declare?! I know I've gone through with plenty of food on every trip, having kids to entertain, and I'd imagine there is very few UK people who don't have snacks with them for a 9hr flight! I can't think of any time I've declared.

I do remember one trip I did panic when we waiting to get off the plane and handed a small bag with some bananas in to the air stewardess - she looked id just asked her to take a bag of frogs!!

Questions therefore.......
1: My 11month old doesn't have a ticket and so BA have said they won't provide him with any food, therefore I will be taking food with me for him. How do I declare this?
2: Obviously, being the perfect model of a Mum (!) I will be taking healthy food with us for him that will include fruit/veg/dairy. Am I not to take that anywhere near to US soil?
3: Is it ok to hand leftover food to the air stewards? I would have assumed reading this thread that the air stewards get food dumped on them all the time, but the reaction I got makes me think not!

Thanks everyone!

here's a cool website....
it's called "can i bring i"...
you put in the item you want to bring and it tells you if you can...

http://www.dontpackapest.com/Can-I-Bring-It


i just put in "apple" from the "united kingdom" and it came back "Prohibited"...

cool...
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[Elise79]

Despite quite a few trips, I'm wracking my brain trying to think how to declare?! I know I've gone through with plenty of food on every trip, having kids to entertain, and I'd imagine there is very few UK people who don't have snacks with them for a 9hr flight! I can't think of any time I've declared.

I do remember one trip I did panic when we waiting to get off the plane and handed a small bag with some bananas in to the air stewardess - she looked id just asked her to take a bag of frogs!!

Questions therefore.......
1: My 11month old doesn't have a ticket and so BA have said they won't provide him with any food, therefore I will be taking food with me for him. How do I declare this?
2: Obviously, being the perfect model of a Mum (!) I will be taking healthy food with us for him that will include fruit/veg/dairy. Am I not to take that anywhere near to US soil?
3: Is it ok to hand leftover food to the air stewards? I would have assumed reading this thread that the air stewards get food dumped on them all the time, but the reaction I got makes me think not!

Thanks everyone!

All food that you take off the plane you declare on the customs form which you are given either on the plane or at check in. Question 11 A refers to food: https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CBP Form 6059B English (Sample Watermark).pdf

On Virgin they remind you both ways that certain common foods can't be taken in and to hand them to a member of cabin crew.

You are correct in the fresh food can not be taken off the plane - hand it for disposal.

 

[katytrott]

Disneyholic, thank you so much. This is all really helpful. Dontpackapest says cheddar is permitted so that will help with my little cheese freak a lot. I think the answer is to take what I want and leave on the plane, and not worry what the plane staff think - what choice do you have if no food is provided for infants

It does say powdered baby milk is allowed provided in original packaging with labelling but doesn't say anything about expressed breast milk.

Still not entirely sure how to declare the permitted items though? Do you do that with the immigration person when they take your photo?

I do travel health now with my job and I often think about all those people out there who just get on the plane and travel not thinking about vaccinating etc (me before doing this job!), and this is similar really - there must be so many families who are naive to these rules

 

[katytrott]

Thank you Elise - I remember that form but only had a recollection that it was about me being involved in espionage etc!

So if I took some packaged crisps, biscuits, cereal bars, sweets etc off the plane I have to declare on that form? I think we were always too scared to do that, thinking it was more a form that was saying "we are actually just saying here that we don't want you in the country if you've done any of these things" and that they don't expect you to tick yes to anything! I suppose we thought if we tick yes even to the food we would be seriously investigated and be at the airport all night having started an international incident that involves the bristish embassy and Jack Bauer - all over a Jaffa cake!!

 

[katytrott]

Think I've scared myself enough to leave everything on the plane now, even the Jaffa cakes!

I will be strip searching the boys to ensure there are no rogue haribos in their pockets, to be on the safe side. Let's hope the sniffer dogs don't sniff out the sticky fingers!!

 

[disneyholic family]

Disneyholic, thank you so much. This is all really helpful. Dontpackapest says cheddar is permitted so that will help with my little cheese freak a lot. I think the answer is to take what I want and leave on the plane, and not worry what the plane staff think - what choice do you have if no food is provided for infants

It does say powdered baby milk is allowed provided in original packaging with labelling but doesn't say anything about expressed breast milk.

Still not entirely sure how to declare the permitted items though? Do you do that with the immigration person when they take your photo?

I do travel health now with my job and I often think about all those people out there who just get on the plane and travel not thinking about vaccinating etc (me before doing this job!), and this is similar really - there must be so many families who are naive to these rules

expressed breast milk is allowed...
also milk is allowed.... i actually wrote to the US customs service to ask if we could bring lactose free milk for our toddler grandson who can't have any lactose at all.
they answered that yes we can bring in milk for his use..

but as has been stated here, the most important thing is to declare that you're carrying food...

as for where you declare, as Elise wrote, it's on that customs declaration form that you have to fill out...
it asks if you're carrying food - you check "yes" next to 11 (a)

then when you go through immigration/customs they'll ask you what you're carrying...or they'll send you off to a different line (depending on the airport)..

..

 

[disneyholic family]

Think I've scared myself enough to leave everything on the plane now, even the Jaffa cakes!

I will be strip searching the boys to ensure there are no rogue haribos in their pockets, to be on the safe side. Let's hope the sniffer dogs don't sniff out the sticky fingers!!

no you don't need to do that..
you need to check "yes" on the customs form..

all those cakes and cookies and candy and pretzls are fine to bring in...

and if you check "yes" on the form, nothing will happen to you..

i accidentally brought in salami one year....definitely forbidden...
but i checked off "yes" and when they asked, i told them and they took it away...end of story..

if you declare it, you'll be fine..

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[chmurf]

Think I've scared myself enough to leave everything on the plane now, even the Jaffa cakes!

that's what we do. No food.
But our reasons might not be the same

as we fly from Paris, Indirect is our only option so far, and we fly through US airports, where we connect.

Bringing food = Declare. And Declare = potential second screening at Customs, and when you have a connection, you want to expedite the red tape as much as possible.
so we don't bring food and tick "no" on the customs form (or screen actually )

Arriving internatonally at MCO does not bear the same kind of risk if you spend a little more time at customs.

 

[disneyholic family]

regarding connections, we mostly fly through JFK where they have a fastpass for connecting travelers...really cool...
though it's not called a fastpass, that's what it is....i think they may call it expedited or something like that...

they hand it to you as you come off the plane - if you're connecting to another flight..

then you walk and walk and walk and walk until you get to the huge immigration hall (kennedy is one big airport - and that's the immigration hall in just one of the terminals).

anyway, you get to the immigration hall where you get into the fastpass line...it's located between the american citizen line and the "alien" (love that word) line..

the fastpass line is for both flavors, alien and american..

when you get to the front of the fastpass line (it moves FAST), you tell the officer what you are (american or alien) and he/she directs you to the front of the next appropriate line....it's terribly cool!! cutting to the front of an immigration line!!!

anyway, it's only in JFK as far as i know and only for connecting passengers....it's needed in JFK because the alien line can take an hour or more...