Can I bring food back from holiday? Travel rules for food including restrictions on fruit

• You may want to bring back food from holiday - here is what is allowed and what isn’t
• Certain fruits and vegetables require a plant health certificate
• You can be fined or prosecuted for bringing back restricted foods

When flying off to another country for a holiday, there will be items you may want to bring back to the UK.

While general souvenirs such as magnets are absolutely fine to bring back, certain foods and drinks may be restricted.

But it is something that many holiday-goers may be hoping to bring home, especially due to the fact that there are certain food and drink items that aren’t available in the UK.

Here is a rundown of what foods and drinks you can bring back from holiday, and what UK airlines will allow you to pack in your suitcase.

The main thing to remember is that the rules on bringing back food usually depends on which country you are bringing it back from.

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Fruit, vegetables, nuts or seeds

According to the UK Gov website, you can bring back any fruit, vegetables, nuts or seeds from any European country, Switzerland or Liechtenstein.

However, in other countries outside of the EU some fruits and vegetables are restricted, unless you have a phytosanitary (plant health) certification from them. To obtain the certificate, you must ask the plant health authorities in the country you are leaving from.

There are certain foods that you are allowed to bring back from countries outside of the EU without a plant health certificate. Those foods are; pineapple, kiwi, coconut, citrus fruits, kumquat, persimmon, durian, curry leaves, bananas, mango, dates, passion fruit, guava, processed and packaged plant products, peeled and processed nuts or nut butters and rice.

Meat, dairy, fish and animal products

You can bring certain foods into the UK for personal use if they are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Greenlands.

Those foods include; fish, poultry, eggs and honey. However, pork, beef, lamb, mutton, goat, venison are restricted, as well as milk and dairy products and those that aren’t for human consumption.

You cannot bring any meat or meat-based products into the UK from countries outside of the EU, as well as milk based products without the exception of powdered infant milk, or food needed for medical purposes.

You can bring up to 2kg per person of honey, shellfish, snails, frogs’ legs, insect meat, and 20kg per person of fresh fish, fish products, processed fish, lobsters and prawns.

Foods with no restrictions

There are certain types of food which can be brought into the UK with any restrictions.

The foods are; bread, cakes (without cream), biscuits, chocolate, sweets, pasta, noodles, packaged soup, and food supplements.

What will happen if I bring a restricted food item into the UK?

If you declare that you have brought a restricted food product into the UK, Border Force will remove the foods and destroy them. However, if you do not declare, you could be fined up to £5,000 or be prosecuted.

If you are interested in learning about what food and drink you can bring onto UK airlines, please read our story on permitted food and drink products here.