Can I bring vacuum sealed coffee to the USA?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 1 Aug, 2023
- |
Yes. I have brought home Vietnamese coffee on a few occasions.
What you CANNOT bring (food wise):
- any FRESH fruit, vegetables, plants, spices: fresh produce of any kind
- meats and fish, even when cooked and processed, are not allowed. I was denied bringing smoked reindeer from Finland.
I routinely bring in:
- processed / dried herbs and spices, including spice pastes
- dry tea
- roasted coffee
- a kind of yogurt sold in the nordics which is sold fresh, but sealed
Most processed and packaged food CAN be brought in, but maybe not meat/seafood. Most fresh foods cannot. I am unsure of green coffee.
Wet foods from Thailand (fresh curry paste and coconut sugar in particular) were allowed, BUT they appear to have caused my bag to be searched. I’m guessing that in an xray they have a similar appearance to certain explosives.
A FEW spices are occasionally banned in any form: Sichuan peppercorns (which can carry a virus harmful to citrus crops, to which they are related); cumin in any form was not allowed once, which also means many kinds of curry powder.
When coming in, when you fill in the form for what you are bringing in, it is best not to lie, but volunteer no more information that is specifically asked. I tend to be very general in what I say I am bringing (e.g. most non-food purchases are called “household goods”). When bringing food items, you have to tick YES, and I always write next to it “tea and dry spices only; no fresh produce, no meats or seafood”. Writing this generally means I do not have to get scanned by the Agriculture part.
I live in Brazil and I usually travel to US. I like to give Brazilian coffee for my friends. I never had any issue with that. The problem is that sometimes, the package could be opened.
- Got same first name and last name on my domestic flight ticket
- Is it legal for a visitor in Dubai to drink alcohol?
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