FDA regulations for sending food abroad

I gave up trying to figure out the new regulations! For Christmas I wanted to send some British food home to my family. so I found a website based in PA called English Tea Store: http://www.englishtea.us/   and they do gift baskets, all you have to do is choose what goes into them. Problem solved! I sent out a basket to my parents and 2 big tins of biscuits to my brothers and they all loved them. No hassle whatsoever! I would definitely do that again.

Ive just done loads of research on sending food between the US and UK for the Food Swap. You can find all my research here - http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=9838.0

It's the governments new anti-terrorism move.  

If it's mad cow they're worried about, wouldn't that be an anti-terrorism moooo-ve?

(groan ... sorry) 

I think it's one of those over-the-top rules that some just look the other way about. "Can't be arsed" I think is the proper bureaucratic term.

I agree. I think it's all pretty silly. I send chocolate over to the US very regularly and have never had a problem. Just fill in the custom form with "gift" under the description. I always do that regardless of what's inside, just so I don't spoil the surprise! Anyway, my friends in the US and I are often exchanging food and have never worried about an FDA number. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. Hrmph.

    i have to say something about this. IT SUCKS!
 so stupid. do you know my mom couldnt' send me some Bath and Body works products. I NEED MY SMELL GOODS!

 anyway she also wanted to send me some Seasoning which she now can. but she had to fill out some formes and this was int eh US.
  nos see, wheni was dating my now husband. i would send him sweet.s but i would wrap them in a sweater and just tack the little box as GIFT like some other people do and i wont mention the other stuff inside.

 its dumb. My friend sent me some gum before it was wrapped in a t shirt and she just put t shirt and  gift.. thats all. if its something small  hide it. lol thats what i do.


 shala

I think it's one of those over-the-top rules that some just look the other way about. "Can't be arsed" I think is the proper bureaucratic term.

I think you're right.  I didn't know about this rule until I just read this thread a few minutes ago, and my boyfriend and I have been sending food back and forth since last year!  I wondered why the lady at the post office stared at my customs form so hard the last time I went there.   

Just this week, my boyfriend sent me an assortment of hobnobs and jaffa cakes and stuff, and the people didn't bat an eye.  He even opened and then resealed the package in front of them because they wanted to charge £35 to send a package that would've normally cost £15...just because it had a letter inside!  What, is he going to tell me secret instructions for blowing up the world with biscuits?!  So he removed the letter and sent it separately for 60p.   

I agree. I think it's all pretty silly. I send chocolate over to the US very regularly and have never had a problem. Just fill in the custom form with "gift" under the description. I always do that regardless of what's inside, just so I don't spoil the surprise! Anyway, my friends in the US and I are often exchanging food and have never worried about an FDA number. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. Hrmph.

Exactly!! I don't wanna give it away either, so just usually put knick-knacks, figurines, dishes, ( my mom likes pretty plates and bowls) and whatever else I stick in there doesn't get questioned.

before I came over here people sent me Cadburys all the time and I'm  pretty sure they weren't notifying the "proper authorities"

I sent cookies and choc's to my parent's last Xmas via FedEx (so they got it in time) and a FedEx customs officer from the US phoned me up and said that I wasn't allowed to send food into the US etc etc (evidently they scanned my parcel and saw it) and told me that those items may be removed from my parcel and destroyed. I must have sounded upset because he said it wasn't "definite" but it was up to the '"individual customs" officer making the decision. In the end they didn't remove the food but none the less, they threatened to.....

I've not send any food since...lol

I've never EVER had a problem sending chocolates. My boyfriend sends me cadbury chocolates and flake bars when he sends packages and has never had a problem either...

I did have a problem sending my boyfriend cologne and I never had and I got pissed and went to a different post office 

Anyway, that would be my suggestion. It's JUST chocolate...people send chocolate all the time. Companies that make the chocolate make it sometimes OUTSIDE of the us and have it shipped back to sell and vise-versa. I don't see a problem...

I'm still a bit confused about this issue, even after having read lots of responses to this thread, so I wanted to "bump" it:

I would really like to send some home baked goods to England. Has anyone in the US done this? And, if so, did you do the FDA notification thing? I sent some M&Ms (like 15 BIG bags) to Italy last year without doing the forms or anything and had no real problems, though I think it took a bit longer than normal for them to arrive to my friend. That wasn't such a big deal, since the freshness of the M&Ms wasn't as time sensitive as baked goods and because my friend was paying for the shipping. If I end up sending baked goods to England, I know it will be pricey and I want to make sure that I go the correct route, so I don't lose that money and effort.

I would really like to send some home baked goods to England. Has anyone in the US done this? And, if so, did you do the FDA notification thing?

i thought the FDA notification thingmy was only for food coming into the USA.

I laughed so hard at this post. It is so true and I thought I was going crazy. I never send anything to the US as the food is so awful here I doubt anyone would eat it. But I get food to send here. Snagola. Customs did stop both of my packages and added a huge, I mean huge tax. I couldn't even afford to pay it. So I was forced to let it go back to the sender only it never arrived. 3 months later still can't find it.

Beware! I am doing the suitcase thing as well and how stupid as the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing here. Someone made off with my packets of Ranch Dressing as if they would know what that was anyways. Plus my coffee creamer. Sniff, so it appears that if you fly take an empty suitcase or fill it up and take it with you. That appears to be the only way around this nightmare anymore.

I do think it does have to do with whomever you get. I also think they open them and pick out what they might want and then tell you that you owe a huge tax in hopes you won't pay it then that package simply disappears. Good scam if you ask me they probably sell it off an American website and triple their money. LOL

I laughed so hard at this post. It is so true and I thought I was going crazy. I never send anything to the US as the food is so awful here I doubt anyone would eat it.

A polite request for you to stop posting comments like this about the food here - it's rude and insulting and obviously untrue, else the whole fecking island would look like Victoria Beckham.

I promised my friend in the US to send him packets of Walkers crisps. So if I send it, its gonna cause a whole hoo-ha? I have never previously had an issue sending food to the US.