.

[blodders]

I have always taken biscuits, coffee and sachets of drinking chocolate and never even thought to declare it. Do I need to? Is it allowed? Or am I better not taking it at all?

So what happens when you declare goods? Do you go through a separate channel? Do they go through your baggage?

 

[Funky_dino]

wow there is nothing like trying to scare people is there.
If you have chewing gum just pop it in your bag and say nothing.
I've been going for 25 years and had chewing gum on me all the time and nothing has ever happened.
At the end of the day you are going on holiday and have no sinister motives so there is no need to be worried.
All they will ask you is business or pleasure, where you're staying, what you intend to do.
Just relax and answer, and think that in less than 5 minutes you can get your luggage and start your holiday.

 

[manning]

wow there is nothing like trying to scare people is there.
If you have chewing gum just pop it in your bag and say nothing.
I've been going for 25 years and had chewing gum on me all the time and nothing has ever happened.
At the end of the day you are going on holiday and have no sinister motives so there is no need to be worried.
All they will ask you is business or pleasure, where you're staying, what you intend to do.
Just relax and answer, and think that in less than 5 minutes you can get your luggage and start your holiday.

Now, if you have 10,000 packs of gum in your purse (that would be some purse) then it would be another matter. Don't worry about that one pack. If the item is not dangerous and of low value the chances are great they will not look at it. If it was a $10,000 bracelet, then they will.

Years back you could look down at people going thru customs at O'Hare airport. I was there once and watched a woman try to sneak one thru. She made a little mistake. The agent found the empty box in her luggage. THAT triggered a full search of her bags. Last seen she was being walked away, possibly to pay a fine. They also had the option to also keep it too.

Just make sure the gum is not gold plated

 

[Zeebs]

wow there is nothing like trying to scare people is there.
If you have chewing gum just pop it in your bag and say nothing.
I've been going for 25 years and had chewing gum on me all the time and nothing has ever happened.
At the end of the day you are going on holiday and have no sinister motives so there is no need to be worried.
All they will ask you is business or pleasure, where you're staying, what you intend to do.
Just relax and answer, and think that in less than 5 minutes you can get your luggage and start your holiday.

Try that in NZ - tick the box that says no food and then get food (said chewing gum) found and you will most probably get a fine.

Grand you have been doing it for 25 years and have never had a problem, I have been travelling for many years too and I don't find it any slower and problematic to just declare that I have food stuffs on me. At least I know my way I have done everything I can to be upfront.

I don't think anyone has been trying to scare her, we seem to all have posted what we have done in the past. Some don't declare and others do. She now knows, the options she can declare or not declare.

Kirsten

 

[Funky_dino]

We are not talking about NZ so there is no point bringing it into the conversation is there.

I always thought, I may be wrong though that when it says about what food is restricted ie meats and fruit, it says that candy is allowed.

 

[Zeebs]

We are not talking about NZ so there is no point bringing it into the conversation is there.

I always thought, I may be wrong though that when it says about what food is restricted ie meats and fruit, it says that candy is allowed.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/sample_declaration_form.xml

form says (copied from above link)

11. Mark an X in the Yes or No box. Are you bringing with you:


a. fruits, plants, food, or insects?
b. meats, animals, or animal/wildlife products?
c. disease agents, cell cultures, or snails?
d. soil or have you visited a farm/ranch/pasture outside the United States?

Chewing gum fits under "food", what will happen is that the rep will see this ticked ask you what you have and when you say chewing gum they will say that is fine on your way.

It is illegal to say NO to food when you have it, you can be fined if they discover this information - is it likely no but for the sake of ticking a box and answering a question I am happy to follow the rules on this one.

I only brought up NZ because they are very diligent with their declarations and you would likely be fined. USA may not be as strict with it, but I really don't want to take that chance. Plus I thought it would be helpful if people knew this information should they decide to go and they don't currently declare that some countries are quite zealous in their investigations.

Kirsten

 

[manning]

A simple solution.....gum is sold in the USA.

 

[2Tiggies]

A simple solution.....gum is sold in the USA.

True. USA is the Gum Capital of the world!

 

[crabbie1]

I remember hvg an apple in my bag the once and the beagle snitched on me i was horrified and embarassed. They then decided to search my hand luggage because i hadnt declared it. They wernt annoyed or rude just asked me to bin it. I hv never declared sweets or chewing gum i must admit or the teabags and squash i take in the luggage perhaps i should.

 

[2Tiggies]

I hv never declared sweets or chewing gum i must admit or the teabags and squash i take in the luggage perhaps i should.

I bought chocolate on the plane last year, declared it, they asked what food I had and we had to go through the red side at customs. Just put the luggage on the scanners again and walked through. No big deal and nothing to worry about.

Yes, fruit is a no no so I can understand the apple story! You must have wanted to cringe! Never mind, a few years ago I had a bottle of water and while at the check in desk there was nowhere to put it to free my hands to I popped it into my hand luggage. DD was horrified when we went through security to board and my bag went off the side. But they laughed about it, even though I felt silly.

 

[katytrott]

I bought chocolate on the plane last year, declared it, they asked what food I had and we had to go through the red side at customs. Just put the luggage on the scanners again and walked through. No big deal and nothing to worry about. .

I can't believe there are many people who travel to Orlando without a single item of food substance to declare, as we all want the odd snack on a long flight, and at the very least we should be having regular fluids. If everyone declared imagine how full the red side would get. The fact that it's not, tells me there are quite a few who don't declare.

I can honestly say I have no idea what we do . I think we must have declared on our last few trips as we had a baby/toddler. Then again, maybe we didn't. Either way, we've never had any problems. I'll be very surprised if they didn't assume, looking at a family with young kids, that they had food. Can you imagine getting through 9 hours with a toddler without snacks on tap

 

[Rachey_101]

.

 

[2Tiggies]

I can't believe there are many people who travel to Orlando without a single item of food substance to declare, as we all want the odd snack on a long flight, and at the very least we should be having regular fluids. If everyone declared imagine how full the red side would get. The fact that it's not, tells me there are quite a few who don't declare.

I can honestly say I have no idea what we do . I think we must have declared on our last few trips as we had a baby/toddler. Then again, maybe we didn't. Either way, we've never had any problems. I'll be very surprised if they didn't assume, looking at a family with young kids, that they had food. Can you imagine getting through 9 hours with a toddler without snacks on tap

Oh no, I always take food for the plane -especially my DD who spent her first 8+ years with a severe gluten intolerance But I leave any snacks we had over on the plane. You can take them on board, you just cant take them onto US soil without declaring them. I also take fresh fruit with and that is a no go with US customs & immigration so I was careful to check our hand luggage and ditch any fruit as well before we got off.