Wondering if bringing Parmesan back to the states is allowed now? I thought I heard that dairy is now restricted. Also, what type of weather to expect these next 2 weeks (leaving Friday) in the Emilio Romangna area?

Rosanne; I brought back a big wedge of Parmagianno in Sept 2000. The dog sniffed, but did not stop.... I honestly don't know about todays regulations with F&M. Better check the US customs site to be sure....Judy

it is my understanding that one may bring back cheese if it is the hard type. this eliminates all the soft ones and the logic escapes me. better if the cheese is wrapped in heavy plastic and sealed. they claimed in a speciality shop that the hard cheese was ok for us customs. this was ib zurich airport. you could always call customs here for an accurate answer

Don't know about Italy, but when I came back from France 10 days ago NO cheese of any kind was allowed ON the plane, and when we disembarked there were dogs looking for people with cheese and meats, all of which were confiscated. You could have shopped for a wedding party at the bank of products confiscated at Dulles Airport! I'd inquire before packing.

I refuse to believe that there is any such thing as a cheese sniffing customs dog.

St. Cirq, when we returned from France in March we brought back cheese (not hard) and it was not confiscated on either end--we told them we had it, of course. What airline were you flying? Could that be the reason for not allowing it on, I wonder.

I flew on United, Gretchen, and they really did make a big deal out of the issue, on both ends of the flight, making announcements at CDG and on the plane. And the Agriculture people at Dulles also seemed on heightened alert. And yes, they had beagles sniffing bags. And yes, the beagles uncovered cheese which was confiscated (not mine). But I do suspect the procedures are not uniform and perhaps even different from day to day as well s airline to airline. And I suspect the furor to die down pretty soon as well.

Hi All, <BR> <BR> I went to the CDC travel advisory site as I was curious about this last week after hearing about chocolate being confiscated. When I looked, hard cheeses not containing meat products were not restricted and neither were chocolate products. Soft cheeses are restricted. This was as far as FMD was concerned, but I doubt that the BSE guidelines would be any different. <BR> <BR>Go to http://www.aphis.usda.gov for more info on this. <BR> <BR>Kate

In March at O'hare,, they had a beagle who sniffed FRIUT,, the man right next to me had an apple from his lunch tray and was busted. Really funny..Thank god he couldn't sniff pate in cans!!

to the top <BR>

Certain types of cheese are allowed. You might want to check the customs website at www.customs.gov/travel/travel.htm. The dogs are trained to sniff for drugs, mainly marijuana. <BR> <BR>A funny sidenote to this. In reading the actress Shelley Winters's autobiography, she tells about bringing expensive cheese back from Europe. It was taken away from her at customs. She says she was sure the family of some customs officer in Queens was enjoying her expensive cheese. She was probably right.