Bringing Foie Gras Into US
 

I truly don't want to start another debate on the pros and cons of eating/raising foie gras. I would just like to know if there is any problem taking three small tins (65 g each) of it back into the US when I fly home from Paris on Friday? If anyone knows the rules, and can inform me...legal or not?, hand luggage vs. checked bags?, etc., I'd really appreciate it. After tasting some at the market this morning (from a free range farmer, I might add), I bought the tins in a daze of deliciousness, and then got second guessing myself about taking it home. It is canned, French, and like a patè. Will be grateful for any advice. Please let me know as soon as possible, 'cause if I can't take it, I have two days to eat it! : )

Thanks!

hey nickidee,

We brought jars of tapenade in our carry on. I don't know the rules but we didn't declare them. As long as it's sealed, I think you are just fine. You should get a better response soon. And yes, probably some PC comments. Enjoy no matter what!

I should think not but you can make your own determination:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/va...restricted.xml

<i>I should think not</i>

I was not clear. Any meat product, even bouillon cubes, is not admissible.

Good site Sarastro. I read it and am confused. It separates meat from poultry in the title but says that meat is restricted. Can you call the embassy? It's near Hotel Crillon I do believe!

It means live poultry when it refers to poultry - livestock and poultry. Dead poultry is meat, same as dead livestock.

That site is vague. As I understood in the past, pork pate( fresh?) was the prohibited item. Foie Gras ' I think' is acceptable.

Of course this thread now has be doubting myself

I bring foie gras back with me every single time I go to France, most recently last August. If it is tinned and labeled with a commercial label (NOT a local producer's handwritten or computerized scribbles), you can bring it in.

Should the OP check it or not?

I would think there is a better chance of bringing it back if it is checked. But if it is not checked and they say no way, then you have the option of eating it in the security line.

Like StCirq, we always bring foie gras back, but be sure it's in a can, not a glass jar. And whatever you do, be sure to declare it, since the penalties if you're caught with undeclared goods are stiff.

Thanks, guys! From what I read at the cbp.gov site, you're right, Sarastro, it sure doesn't sound like I can take it. It specifically mentions canned meats being prohibited. I certainly expected that I couldn't take things like refrigerated meats or whatever, but thought that maybe being canned would make it OK. Darn! I was looking forward to sharing it with a couple of my friends. Now, I'm going to have to be a real hog and eat it all myself (or perhaps give some to my French landlord). It cost too much to chance it being confiscated and destroyed. : (

Yes, do declare it. You'll have to go through the Ag line, but it beats being nailed on the spot for failing to declare it. And do check it. And don't bring it back in jars (though the best stuff usually is jarred).

I'm not a big fan of the canned stuff. Have you tried some mi cuit foie gras in France???

I can purchase raw foie gras or mi cuit here locally (till 1002 when it is banned in Calif).

Stu Dudley

Hi; We brought 'foie gras' back last October, sold in the duty free shops. No problem. iris1745/dick

Hi nick,

Most of the time you can bring back tinned foie gras. It depends on whether USDA has issued a warning or not.

It comes under the heading of "gels and liquids" so put it into your checked baggage if it weighs more than 100g/tin. Under 100g is OK in carryon.

((I))

StCirq, I sent my last post before seeing yours. Yes, my tins are definitely commercially canned and labeled. Checked or carry on bags? Do you declare it?

Alohatoall, so you declare it, and they just let you through?

Kelliebellie, no matter how good it is, I can't even IMAGINE eating it all in line... : )

Thanks all!

Hi; About this 'checked' or 'not checked thought'. Usually, at the duty free shop, you buy your goods, when you pay the cashier he/she puts it in a sealed bag and you reclaim it as you board the airplane. iris1745/dick

Hi; Sorry, I didn't read or misread part of your post. Just put it in your checked baggage as others have suggested. No problem. iris1745/dick

I returned on Monday from Paris with a tin of foie gras in my checked luggage. I declared it and was rewarded by a big red A on my customs slip. That earned me a free xray of my bags but I left the airport with the foie gras.

OK, you guys have made me comfortable with sending it in my checked luggage, and declaring it when I go through Customs. That's what I'll do.

As always, you all are the greatest! Thanks!

A liquid (100g+) obtained at duty-free in Europe would have to be placed in a checked bag after coming through US customs if the passenger is connecting to a domestic flight.

Hi AGM; I now recall that last October, questions were asked by customs and we had to have the bags xrayed. We also left with the 'foie gras'. iris1745/dick

Over the years, I have brought back cans of foie gras and rillettes de oie, along with with homemade jams and preserves into the US with no problems at all.. On my last trip, a US customs agent asked me about some items in my scanned luggage that he couldn't identify. I told him it was some tins of foie gras, etc. He just nodded and let me through without a search..

You really need to declare any and all food products in case you are selected to go through the agricultural inspection. Failure to declare foods can lead to difficulties. I'm sure you don't want to bring anything into this country that could do harm.

As for foie gras, as long as it's in a can there should be no problems.

Make sure that it is foie gras and not duck or goose liver pâté which contains forbidden pork fat. But while it is legal to import pure foie gras, not all customs agents know that. I once had a tin almost confiscated when the supervisor happened to pass by and OK'd the item.

Canned items are acceptable. I would not try to bring in the foie gras in glass canning jars, because not all of the customs officials are properly trained.

Actually, the last time I was in a debate with customs officials, it was to make sure there was no beef in the item due to mad cow disease. All other animal products were admitted -- as long as they were canned.

I don't declare that I am bringing in any food. It saves time, because 95% of the time they won't check. When they do check, they don't make an issue of it, and if they did, I would just tell them that I understood the "food item" question as referring to raw meat or raw fruit and vegetables. They expect you to be stupid anyway, since so many people are.

I would just like to add that I have been caught with forbidden food more than once. Those of you expecting to be dragged away to prison will be disappointed, because they just take it away from you with a smile. They even give you a little card to fill out in case you feel that you have been mistreated. And then you are on your way.

People who have not personally been through the confiscation procedure should not be advising others of their risks.

I truly don't want to start another debate on the pros and cons of eating/raising foie gras.>

then you should not post about supporting such horrendous brutality to animals - just so wealthy folks like you can eat their absurdly fat livers - a product of force feeding.

To me it's like someone saying they do not want to start a debate on racism

then going on to say racist things

Have you no SHAME

shame on you and anyone else who supports this animal cruelty

Bon appetit!

Have you ever seen the geese running towards the people holding the funnels, to be first? ;)

(Morlocks/Eloi)

I would not doubt that - starving them then gorging them - it's a pitiful display even if the geese like it - and i've seen plenty of pictures of them struggling to get free

I just think anyone who eats Foie Gras or buys ivory or whale blubber, etc. is.. low - all for their own selfish greed.

chicago i believe and other cities have banned restaurants serving it outright.

And when i see a Foie Gras imbiber i will always say what i think of that person.

I have. They practically trample each other to be first in line!

Unlike the Canadian baby seals.

<i>starving them then gorging them</i>

They are not starved. I have seen geese free range, but then have also seen the ducks and geese caged in individual cages. As with any meat production, there is a great variety in the treatment of the animals.

Here is a lengthy defense of foie gras by a restaurateur who obviously cares about how the meat he uses is produced.

http://www.incanto.biz/letters_-_shock_and_foie.html

I've brought it back several times, tinned foie gras entier, not pate, without trouble. However the last trip I had over $100.00 worth confiscated, They said it was because of bird flu and all my arguments were dismissed. I'm always truthful about bringing back food but I'm tempted now to tell a small fib. Or eat my fill in France and buy it in the US from D'Artagnan

I have. They practically trample each other to be first in line!>

another reason it is barbaric

and you do not get fat liver without funneling gruel down their throats and that my friends is animal abuse no matter how you put lipstick on that pig.

For someone who has just joined this website, Palenque certainly knows how to stir the pot. Quit attacking posters if you have nothing to add to the question at hand.

I will be open minded as possible about looking into cruelty-free foie gras and the ducks loving it so much they flock to the funnels - perhaps and i will check

Others however are no so open minded about it:

EVANA Foie gras: Cruelty Made in France
Foie gras: Cruelty Made in France. Information: Stop Gavage, France 1 December 2008. Foie gras in France and around the world. Foie gras is produced and ...
www.evana.org/index.php?id=39474 -

NO Foie Gras - A Farm Sanctuary Campaign
Confinement and Cruelty Today foie gras production is concentrated in France, which produces and consumes 90% of the world's foie gras. ...
www.nofoiegras.org/FGabout.htm


Didier Durand plans foie gras museum in his Chicago bistrot ...
Mar 12, 2009 ... I also used to eat foie gras in France when I grew up. ... an abomination & anyone found guilty of it should be gaoled for animal cruelty. ...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle5891166.ece

Have these people seen a chicken factory in the United States?

<i>For someone who has just joined this website, Palenque certainly knows how to stir the pot.</i>

Palenque's an old time poster, this is just his latest log in name. He's been through about half a dozen or so. I guess his trolling gets him banned every so often?

Why can't people learn to not click on a topic that is going to bug them?

The OP specifically stated that the product was bought from a free range farmer and requested that the melodramatics be absent.