Will my Disneyland snacks be confiscated at the CA border?

[CheshireGato]

In our experience, if you are coming back into California and have California license plates, they usually won't stop you. People who enter California with plates from other states are more likely to be stopped and questioned about whether they're carrying any plants or produce.

I have NV plates and have never been stopped going to Cali. They always wave me through.

 

[CamoMama]

Hm. I just moved out of California in September, before that I drove from CA to WA and back every couple of months or so for years. I stop at the inspection station on I5 every time I re-enter the state (since they reopened it). I believe there are signs telling every vehicle to stop and I don't think there's a bypass lane if I recall. I still drive down regularly and will be doing so every 8 weeks or so for the next year, and I guess I never even really think about it.

They don't actually inspect you, but you do have to stop, even if you have CA plates as I have for the last decade or so. The inspector will ask if you have any produce, you answer and he waves you on. It's not as if it's a huge inconvenience.

 

[sophies*mom]

Hi to my fellow N. NV'ans!

Also being SO close to the CA border, we just get waved on through. Once or twice they've asked where we came from, and then just wave us through. I think if they see that your plates are from pretty far away, they may take more interest in what you are bringing into CA with you.

 

[dcraythorn]

I'm in Utah and when traveling into CA, we have always been stopped and asked to throw away any fruits or vegatables. I wouldn't take any.

 

[VandVsmama]

The CA produce inspections at the state line stems from the fruit fly invasion in the early 1980s. I remember having to stay indoors on certain days of the week because of the helicopters spraying all of our neighborhoods with pesticide.

 

[starshine514]

We're from AZ. When I was a child, I remember having to give up bananas and such at the Arizona border. One year, we were driving back from Kentucky and my grandpa had a big box of fresh home-grown apples in the van. They were so good and we ate them all the way until the AZ border (none of the other states along the way seemed to care - LOL), when we had to hand over the rest of the box. I believe I've been asked about fruits and veggies at the AZ border when I've been driving as an adult as well.

We always get stopped at the CA border crossing over on 1-10 or 1-8 (Yuma area, when we head to San Diego). At the 1-10 station, they just wave us through. At the I-8 station, they ask us where we're going. I didn't realize that they would confiscate fruits & veggies, since they've never asked me about them.

 

[Rhonna]

The CA produce inspections at the state line stems from the fruit fly invasion in the early 1980s. I remember having to stay indoors on certain days of the week because of the helicopters spraying all of our neighborhoods with pesticide.

They were checking in the 1960s and 1970s when we made our annual road trips through OR, CA and Arizona. We had to eat up or throw out pieces of fruits and nuts.

 

[Rhonna]

Just crossed this weekend from AZ to CA on the I-10. The inspector waived us through without stopping us....what's the point...

Because invasive insect issues can become more problematic some months or years, it doesn't happen on a daily basis. With the check points already set up, they are able to crack down more severely if a serious invasion starts up in nearby states.

 

[FreeTime]

The last time (2 years ago) we declared our fruit going into CA. They asked where we got it at, we said the grocery store in AZ. They passed us on through.

 

[lana772]

They were checking in the 1960s and 1970s when we made our annual road trips through OR, CA and Arizona. We had to eat up or throw out pieces of fruits and nuts.

I remember my Dad (about 1975) having to leave at the Ca border several large bags of pecans we had gotten from my uncle's yard in Oklahoma.

Lana

 

[CamoMama]

Surprisingly though, California does have grocery stores and farmer's markets. So not bringing in fruit from outside of the state does not necessarily mean that you're doomed to unhealthy eating throughout your visit.

And in many areas of CA, groceries are much less expensive than elsewhere. I moved from CA to WA late last year and my grocery bill has gone way up.

 

[sasywtch]

To the poster above me...that's what I was going to say. Take a little fruit for the beginning of the road trip and buy fresh just picked at a roadside stand in CA. I bet it will taste much better than the store fruit brought in from Mexico.

Please don't hide any fruit/veggies. As others have said, CA is hugely agricultural and pests can destroy the crops. If that happens, your price will go up to as CA sends a lot of produce to other states.

I've always gotten waived through on the returnees from Lake Tahoe but always got stopped coming from OK to Southern CA.

 

[mmmears]

To the poster above me...that's what I was going to say. Take a little fruit for the beginning of the road trip and buy fresh just picked at a roadside stand in CA. I bet it will taste much better than the store fruit brought in from Mexico.

Please don't hide any fruit/veggies. As others have said, CA is hugely agricultural and pests can destroy the crops. If that happens, your price will go up to as CA sends a lot of produce to other states.

Just what I was thinking -- it's easy to buy fruit in California. And I always declare fruit when crossing the border -- I would hate to bring in something that could cause problems later.