marilyn

Does US Customs allow one to bring cheese back to the US.

Betsy

It depends. I have brought back pecorino from Italy twice in the past two years. I think if the cheese is hard, aged or dry it's OK. Customs (at DFW) did want to look at it when I returned in Nov. Guy just rapped it with his hand and seemed satisfied that it was hard. Others may have had different experiences, based on point of reentry.

Grasshopper

It's funny... a friend of mine tried to bring back a big salami and customs said "you can't bring that in!" So she sat on the floor and proceeded to eat the entire thing.

Brian in Atlanta

Cheese is fine. Almost all meat is not. It was tough watching the confiscation of $30 of Iberian Jamon recently. And to think they had the nerve to sell it in the duty free store, knowing that we were travelling to the U.S. Live and learn.

nosmelly

Let me know what flight you will be on so I can miss it, peeeuuuuwwww!

Monica

My cousin and I brought back (vacum sealed) wild boar. When my cousin went through customs, the sniffer dog went wild, tail wagging, when he/she smelled the meat. The customs man just made a casual comment, "she's carrying sausage." I guess the dog would have acted differently if it were drugs or something else. Lucky dog!

Monica

I guess I should said the meat wasn't taken away from her.

Barb

O'Hare is pretty strict. I was returning from Poland and so many traveller's meats were taken away. Hard cheeses were OK and I got to bring in 5 tins of caviar. Bring the cheese, skip the meat.

peter

hard cheese is ok to bring back but any soft cheese is not. many of the soft cheeses are made to be consumed relatively young nad do not keep well. they spoil easily. hard aged cheese obviously is aged and does not spoil easily. some cheeses =like gorgonzola fall inbetween and its up the the agent at the time and what kind of day he is having mange bene

steve

There was a very funny movie years ago where Sophia Loren was bringing a huge sausage into the US. While all the arguing was going on over (i think) a few days, the customs agents ended up eating it slice by slice without anyone really realizing what they were doing.

canuck

Reminds me of a trip many years ago that had a cheese factory on the tour. Can't remember if it was edam or gouda BUT of course we had to buy a wheel to take home. We were on a bus tour and by the end of the week we started to smell something pretty rank. Opened the container holding the cheese and it was moldy and rotting...yuck! Of course the cheese factory folks told us it would be fine