Can I Bring Food on an International Flight?
Pick the country you are flying to and tick what is in your bag → what that country lets through, from its own border rules, and what US security says about carrying it.
Into Canada: snacks and cheese allowed — check fresh fruitAllowed: snacks and cheese. Declare all of it: Canada asks you to declare every food you bring.
Each rule from that country's own border or biosecurity page, read on 15 October 2026, for a traveller flying from the US. When in doubt, declare it: the officer at the border has the last word.
Fresh fruit or vegetablesDeclare it — an officer decides
Up to 20 kg of fruit and 20 kg of vegetables from the US — but each one has its own rule in CFIA’s Automated Import Reference System (AIRS), and potatoes must be commercially packaged and graded US No. 1. Declare it.
Through US security (TSA): carry-on: yes, with TSA’s instructions; checked bag: yes.
Canada’s rule ↗Packaged snacks, cookies, chocolate, candyAllowed, with limits
Allowed from the US, up to 20 kg of each, as long as nothing has meat in it.
Through US security (TSA): carry-on: yes; checked bag: yes.
Canada’s rule ↗CheeseAllowed, with limits
Allowed from the US, up to 20 kg.
Through US security (TSA): carry-on: yes; checked bag: yes.
Canada’s rule ↗On the plane, yes: US security (TSA) lets solid food through in a carry-on or a checked bag, and only liquids and spreads over 3.4 oz must go in the checked bag. The catch is the country you land in. Fresh fruit is refused or restricted in all 7 of the countries here, meat in 6 of 7; packaged snacks are the easiest. Pick your country and tick what you are packing.
How to use it
Choose the country you are flying to — Canada, Mexico, the UK, any European Union country, Japan, Australia or New Zealand — and tick each food in your bags. The answer says what you can bring, what to check and what to leave behind; each food then gets its card: the rule in that country, from its own border or biosecurity page, what US security says about carrying it, and a link to the official page. The tool assumes you are flying from the US (the rules for US food are often looser: Canada and Mexico have their own tables for it). The link under the answer keeps your country and your list.
The rules, country by country
Read on 15 October 2026, each on the country's own page.
- Canada (the Canadian Food Inspection Agency): from the US, most foods come in up to 20 kg each — cheese, snacks, honey, meat that is retail packaged and labelled "Product of USA", up to 5 dozen eggs. Fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts each have their own rule in CFIA's import reference system.
When travelling, you must declare all food products you bring with you into Canada.
- Mexico (SENASICA's list of 28 April 2026): fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and fresh cheese are prohibited; from the US, aged cheese up to 3 kg a family, dried beef up to 500 g and cooked poultry up to 6 kg from approved plants; honey only from Brazil or France.
- Great Britain (GOV.UK): no meat and no milk or milk products from outside the EU — cheese included; bread, biscuits, chocolate and sweets from any country; most fresh fruit only with a plant-health certificate.
- The European Union (the European Commission):
Travellers are not allowed to bring in meat, milk or their products
; fish up to 20 kg, honey up to 2 kg; fruit and vegetables need a certificate except pineapple, coconut, durian, banana and dates. - Japan (the Plant Protection Station and the Animal Quarantine Service):
It is prohibited to bring in most fruits, vegetables, etc.
and no meat at all — not jerky, not vacuum-packed, not from the duty-free shop; eggs need an inspection certificate. Dairy in your baggage is outside animal quarantine. - Australia (the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry): cheese and dairy up to 10 kg from a country free of foot-and-mouth disease, packaged chocolate, roasted packaged nuts; no whole eggs without a permit; canned meat from such a country, anything else by BICON's conditions. Declare it — a false declaration can cost up to $7,280 (Australian dollars).
- New Zealand (the Ministry for Primary Industries):
You cannot bring any types of fresh fruits or vegetables to New Zealand.
No pork, no honey from the US; US beef products up to 3 kg; snacks up to 2 kg each. Not declaring a food can cost an instant $400 fine.
Every food in every country
"Check first" means only some kinds are allowed, an officer decides, or the country's page names no rule for it — the card in the tool says which.
| Food | Allowed | Check first | Not allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packaged snacks, cookies, chocolate, candy | Canada, Mexico, UK, Australia, New Zealand | EU, Japan | — |
| Fresh fruit or vegetables | — | Canada, UK, EU, Australia | Mexico, Japan, New Zealand |
| Cheese | Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand | Mexico | UK, EU |
| Milk, butter, yogurt | Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, New Zealand | — | UK, EU |
| Meat, jerky, salami, sausage | Canada | Mexico, Australia, New Zealand | UK, EU, Japan |
| Fish and seafood | Canada, Mexico, UK, EU, Japan, Australia, New Zealand | — | — |
| Eggs | Canada | Mexico, UK, EU | Japan, Australia, New Zealand |
| Nuts | Mexico, UK, Australia, New Zealand | Canada, EU, Japan | — |
| Honey | Canada, UK, EU | Japan, Australia | Mexico, New Zealand |
| Baby formula and baby food | Canada, Mexico, UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand | Japan | — |
Worked examples
Granola bars, a block of cheddar and apples to Toronto. Into Canada: snacks and cheese allowed — check fresh fruit. Allowed: snacks and cheese. Declare all of it: Canada asks you to declare every food you bring. The apples depend on CFIA’s rule for apples — declare them.
Beef jerky, cookies and string cheese to Tokyo. Into Japan: leave behind meat. Allowed: cheese. Check first: snacks. Take any meat or animal product to the Animal Quarantine counter, and any plant to Plant Quarantine, before customs. Bringing them in illegally can mean up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to 3 million yen. Leave the jerky at home, or finish it on the plane.
Cheese, chocolate and a jar of honey to London. Into Great Britain: leave behind cheese. Allowed: honey and snacks. These are Great Britain’s rules (England, Scotland and Wales); Northern Ireland has its own.
An orange and a bag of almonds to Cancún. Into Mexico: leave behind fresh fruit. Allowed: nuts. Declare it: SENASICA inspects travellers at 97 ports, airports and border crossings, and a product that is not allowed is held, then sent back or destroyed. Shelled almonds are on Mexico’s allowed list; the orange is not.
Common mistakes
- Walking off with the plane's fruit. Japan says it outright:
In-flight meals containing fresh fruits and vegetables also cannot be brought in.
Finish it on board. - Trusting the vacuum pack or the duty-free bag. Japan:
There is no exception even for products that are vacuum packed, cooked, sold at airport duty-free shops, or labeled in Japanese.
- Packing American cheese for Europe. The UK and the EU refuse milk products from the US; Canada, Australia and New Zealand let cheese in within their limits.
- Not declaring to save time. New Zealand fines $400 on the spot; Australia up to $7,280. Declared, an officer simply decides.
Questions people ask
Can you bring food on international flights?
Yes, through US security: TSA allows solid food in carry-on and checked bags, with liquids and spreads over 3.4 oz (100 ml) in the checked bag. What matters is the country you land in — most refuse fresh fruit and many refuse meat and dairy, so check its rule and declare what you carry.
Can you bring food into Canada?
From the US, mostly yes, within limits: up to 20 kg each of snacks, cheese and dairy, honey and labelled, retail-packaged meat, and up to 5 dozen eggs labelled "Product of the USA". Fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts follow CFIA's rule for each one. Declare all of it.
Can you bring food into Mexico?
Packaged, factory-made food, shelled nuts, dried fruit and aged cheese (up to 3 kg a family from the US) are allowed. Fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat, fresh cheese and home-made food are prohibited; dried beef only up to 500 g from an approved US plant.
Can you bring food through customs?
Usually, if you declare it. Canada and New Zealand ask you to declare every food, Australia certain foods, and Japan sends meat, animal products and plants to its quarantine counters; an officer then decides. Undeclared food that is found can mean a fine — $400 in New Zealand, up to $7,280 in Australia.
Can I bring snacks on an international flight?
Yes: TSA allows snacks in a carry-on. On arrival, packaged snacks without meat are allowed in Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand; the EU's and Japan's pages give no rule for them, beyond refusing anything with meat (and, for the EU, milk) in it.
Can you bring food into Japan?
Not fresh fruit or vegetables, not meat in any form (jerky, ham, sausage, meat buns), not eggs without an inspection certificate. Dairy products in your baggage are outside animal quarantine, and dried fish without meat or egg is not inspected.
Can you bring food into Australia?
Declare it, and much of it comes in: packaged chocolate, cooked biscuits and bread without meat, cheese and dairy up to 10 kg from a country free of foot-and-mouth disease, roasted packaged nuts, infant formula up to 10 kg. Whole eggs need a permit; uncanned meat follows BICON.
Read next
Packing for the trip: the carry-on packing list, how to survive a long flight and international travel tips for first-timers. Where you are going: Japan for first-timers and the Mexico City travel guide.
Related tools: Can I Bring It on a Plane? (TSA's rule for 495 items), What Do I Have to Declare at US Customs? (food coming home), How Much Cash Can I Fly With? and the Packing List Generator.