So, how was your vacation? Was it good? Did you have fun? Did you walk down some unfamiliar cobblestone street with foreign language playing in your ears? Was it so romantic you wanted to cry? Great. Now it’s time to wake up and smell the corporate cubical as reality slaps you back in the face. Thankfully you brought a couple of souvenirs to remind you it wasn’t all a dream. However, if you weren’t careful enough, it’s possible the US customs surprised you and confiscated them as you landed. Here are a few items you’d never expect to get you in trouble.
Produce
Delicious and nutritious, fruits and vegetables are there to keep you healthy and happy. But the US government won’t let you in its borders with any of them in your luggage. This hasn’t always been the case but went into practice in the 1980s when California was plagued with fruit flies. Now the government will only let in very specific kinds of fruits and veggies and even those would have to be backed up with proper permits.
Foreign meat
Airplane food is not exactly a worthy Master Chef candidate. So, getting some snacks to keep your tummy from rumbling all the way home would stand to reason. However, if that snack is beef-jerky or any other meat-based product, you better finish it on the plane. If you don’t, you’ll have some ‘splainin’ to do at your home airport. The reason for that is that tainted foreign meat has the reputation of spreading infectious diseases, which, obviously, the US would love to avoid.
Kinder surprise eggs
The fabulous Italian treat that is Kinder chocolate has been selling its products worldwide for decades. But there is one Kinder product that has been banned in the US for many years — the Kinder surprise egg — a chocolate egg with a small plastic toy hiding inside. Apparently, the US government doesn’t trust the local kids to not eat the plastic and will confiscate any such egg trying to infiltrate the nation.
Native American artifacts
As we all know, the US is not the only place in the world with a native American population. If you happened to stumble upon an artifact that belongs to indigenous people, you won’t be able to take it home with you. So put that arrowhead back where you found it.