# When travelling: What food can I bring back with me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645 "2023-05-26T19:52:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645/21 "2023-05-29T13:43:29Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yes. Prions are heat-stable. For normal cooking temps, but if you don’t mind cooking your beef to an internal temp of 1,100 to 1,800 degrees F you’ll be fine! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645/22 "2023-05-29T13:50:35Z")
To the OP… I do not see the problem of bringing a sausage into the US from another country. There is no chance I will infect our livestock or other people. At worst, I infect myself. (Not disputing how it works…just griping about how it all works.) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645/23 "2023-05-29T14:32:04Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > There is no chance I will infect our livestock or other people. I don’t know how that disease is spread but there’s no reason for a border agent to take your word that you won’t feed that sausage to livestock or other people. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645/24 "2023-05-29T14:33:25Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I don’t know how that disease is spread but there’s no reason for a border agent to take your word that you won’t feed that sausage to livestock or other people. Nor should they. They can and should ask the experts (actual experts without an agenda…politicians are generally not experts). ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645/25 "2023-05-29T14:48:36Z")
Here in Australia the risk of Foot and Mouth disease is something we are _very_ serious about. It can survive on meat, and other foodstuffs. African Swine Fever is another. That will survive in your sausages. Outbreaks of these diseases in the farming industries tend to lead to multi-billion dollar losses. Nobody really cares if the sausage makes _you_ sick. They care a great deal if it leads to the loss of tens of thousands of cattle or pigs and wipes out an entire industry. Bringing Foot and Mouth or African Swine Fever into Oz is a hanging offence. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645/26 "2023-05-29T15:23:17Z")
They should ask experts about a lot of things, such as whether the disease in question can be spread through sausages or cooked meats. But once that’s a possibity, there isn’t any way for the expert to tell if > There is no chance I will infect our livestock or other people. At worst, I infect myself. The border agents or whoever will have to take your word for it that you aren’t going to share that sausage. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645/27 "2023-05-29T18:40:45Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > It can survive on meat, and other foodstuffs. African Swine Fever is another. US Customs halls are also plastered with posters about not importing African Swine Fever. It’s a really big deal. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645/28 "2023-05-30T00:25:53Z")
When I traveled to Scotland many years ago I brought back an Arbroath Smokie, a smoked North Sea haddock that was vacuum-packed in plastic, and had no problems. It’s the regional specialty (the local museum has an exhibit on it), and they encourage you to take them home. > **[Arbroath smokie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbroath_smokie)** > > The Arbroath smokie is a type of smoked haddock, and is a speciality of the town of Arbroath in Angus, Scotland. > The Arbroath smokie is said to have originated in the small fishing village of Auchmithie, three miles northeast of Arbroath. Local legend has it a store caught fire one night, destroying barrels of haddock preserved in salt. The following morning, the people found some of the barrels had caught fire, cooking the haddock inside. Inspection revealed the haddock to be quite tasty.\[dub... > **[Arbroath Smokies: Buying, Cooking, and Recipes](https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-arbroath-smokies-4150746)** > > The Arbroath smokie is a salt-dried haddock from eastern Scotland that has been hot-smoked over hardwood. You can enjoy them as a breakfast kipper. I also brought back a Christmas pudding (it was only about three days before Christmas), a lot of Cadbory Bournevuille Dark Chocolate bars (to which my wife Pepper Mil is addicted) and random other goodies. I had no problems with any of these. What I DID have a problem with was my tube of cyanoacrylate super glue.I was traveling on business, and was a walking mechanic shop, in case I had to make running repair on our apparatus. They seized my super glue, even though it was still packed in its unopened blister pack. “Why?” I asked. “It’s an irritant,” I was told. Pepper Mill’s theory – somebody at airport security had to glue something together. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-travelling-what-food-can-i-bring-back-with-me/984645.md?page=1)