Can I get the pesto pasta Canadian border inspector?
June 14, 2018 7:09 PM Subscribe
Life will be much easier if I can take frozen pesto sauce in my checked bag when I fly to Vancouver in a few weeks. Will it be allowed?
We're flying to Vancouver BC from the US in a few weeks, sightseeing and then joining 15 other people on a huge houseboat on Lake Shuswap five days later. I'm responsible for preparing one dinner for everyone, and I just read the houseboat FAQ and it's clear the kitchen isn't set up for cooking to that scale, despite the fact that it theoretically sleeps 22.
I'd like to make pesto at home, vacuum seal it, freeze it, and then pack it in a thermal bag with a chemical ice pack in my luggage. There will be a freezer at the place we're staying in Canada, so it will only be exposed to above freezing temps for the two flight legs (6 hours) and two 3 hour drives (we're spending one night at another place with a freezer midway between Vancouver and Lake Shuswap.) When it's my turn to cook, I can just saute some chicken (which I will buy in Canada), put some pasta on to boil, toss a salad and break out some garlic bread: easy.
TL;DR Will my frozen pesto be confiscated by Canadian authorities at the Vancouver airport ? I've looked around the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canada Boarder Services Agency and there's a lot of information about raw ingredients and commercially prepared foods, but nothing about homemade foods that combine categories (e.g., cheese, nuts, fresh basil, fresh garlic, olive oil). Hope me avoid the heartbreak of confiscated pesto!
We're flying to Vancouver BC from the US in a few weeks, sightseeing and then joining 15 other people on a huge houseboat on Lake Shuswap five days later. I'm responsible for preparing one dinner for everyone, and I just read the houseboat FAQ and it's clear the kitchen isn't set up for cooking to that scale, despite the fact that it theoretically sleeps 22.
I'd like to make pesto at home, vacuum seal it, freeze it, and then pack it in a thermal bag with a chemical ice pack in my luggage. There will be a freezer at the place we're staying in Canada, so it will only be exposed to above freezing temps for the two flight legs (6 hours) and two 3 hour drives (we're spending one night at another place with a freezer midway between Vancouver and Lake Shuswap.) When it's my turn to cook, I can just saute some chicken (which I will buy in Canada), put some pasta on to boil, toss a salad and break out some garlic bread: easy.
TL;DR Will my frozen pesto be confiscated by Canadian authorities at the Vancouver airport ? I've looked around the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canada Boarder Services Agency and there's a lot of information about raw ingredients and commercially prepared foods, but nothing about homemade foods that combine categories (e.g., cheese, nuts, fresh basil, fresh garlic, olive oil). Hope me avoid the heartbreak of confiscated pesto!
Best answer: What Can I Bring Into Canada in Terms Of Food, Plant, Animal and Related Products? indicates that you might be okay, but:
posted by scruss at 7:42 PM on June 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
- you really should declare it. The $800 fine for packet soup was a thing. YVR's pretty ruthless for searching incoming baggage.
- Whether you're allowed to keep it depends on the border agent. You'll likely be charged a disposal fee if it's not allowed through.
posted by scruss at 7:42 PM on June 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
Best answer: I would bring it, but have a back up plan in case they decide to take it--jarred pesto at the store, for example. Definitely declare it, though.
FWIW I have brought cheese, homemade jam, and trail mix (nuts and dried fruit) through with no issue. One time I had something (fresh fruit or veg? I forget the specifics) that left over from my lunch (that I brought on the plane). I declared it, and had to bring it around to another counter where they took it out and put it in a disposal bin. I didn't get charged any kind of fee, and I've never heard of that happening for consumer quantities of something that was declared. I didn't think disposal fees were a thing that existed.
posted by quaking fajita at 8:37 PM on June 14, 2018
FWIW I have brought cheese, homemade jam, and trail mix (nuts and dried fruit) through with no issue. One time I had something (fresh fruit or veg? I forget the specifics) that left over from my lunch (that I brought on the plane). I declared it, and had to bring it around to another counter where they took it out and put it in a disposal bin. I didn't get charged any kind of fee, and I've never heard of that happening for consumer quantities of something that was declared. I didn't think disposal fees were a thing that existed.
posted by quaking fajita at 8:37 PM on June 14, 2018
You would probably be ok, but as with all things border related even clear guidelines can be widely interpreted by the border guard in question.
Personally, the stress of the uncertainty would put me off. Could you buy the pesto ingredients in Vancouver and make it there? You could certainly take a mini food processor with you.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 8:38 PM on June 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Personally, the stress of the uncertainty would put me off. Could you buy the pesto ingredients in Vancouver and make it there? You could certainly take a mini food processor with you.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 8:38 PM on June 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Could you make it, freeze it, ship it ahead of time?
posted by vrakatar at 9:29 PM on June 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by vrakatar at 9:29 PM on June 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
I would be leery about bringing something homemade with fresh vegetables (not sure about Canadian laws wrt hard cheese), instead I would stay at a hotel with a kitchenette in Vancouver and make the pesto there.
posted by brujita at 9:48 PM on June 14, 2018
posted by brujita at 9:48 PM on June 14, 2018
I have travelled from Seattle to Vancouver, BC with food.
1. Definitely, definitely declare it! It's better to declare it and have the Customs Agent roll their eyes at you, than not declare it and have it becoming a big deal. (Last time I went up, I declared my coffee in my travel mug, because it had half and half in it. That caused an eyeroll.)
2. Make a backup plan in case it gets confiscated and destroyed. Same if you want to mail it; mail gets examined by Customs as well.
3. Vancouver, BC has at least a couple of Italian grocery stores, so it shouldn't be that hard to get ingredients in case you want to recreate the pesto in Vancouver, BC.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:59 PM on June 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
1. Definitely, definitely declare it! It's better to declare it and have the Customs Agent roll their eyes at you, than not declare it and have it becoming a big deal. (Last time I went up, I declared my coffee in my travel mug, because it had half and half in it. That caused an eyeroll.)
2. Make a backup plan in case it gets confiscated and destroyed. Same if you want to mail it; mail gets examined by Customs as well.
3. Vancouver, BC has at least a couple of Italian grocery stores, so it shouldn't be that hard to get ingredients in case you want to recreate the pesto in Vancouver, BC.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:59 PM on June 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Could you take a mini food processor/mixer? They can be pretty compact and would give you options with locally sourced ingredients if the houseboat kitchen doesn't have one.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 12:59 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by the duck by the oboe at 12:59 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you badly want homemade - a trip to Canadian Tire will set you up with a Magic Bullet mixer for $50. Mixing pesto isn't as easy as in a proper food processor but it's doable and would be fresh when you head out to the boat.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:30 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:30 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
You'll be fine, but declare it. They care more about raw plant materials that can be propagated and potentially destroy protected crops than prepared food that has no growing potential (except meat products, which aren't allowed). They won't even blink at you about pesto.
posted by urbanlenny at 8:25 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by urbanlenny at 8:25 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
You declare it and it gets in, as long as it doesn't have meat or potatoes in it. If you are traveling by air this is the form and it's under I am/we are bringing into Canada: where you will need to check the third option starting with Meat, fish, seafood, eggs....
Tell the agent you have "Homemade jar of Pesto" to declare. Grandma's do this everyday and I am almost entirely certain (like 99%) it will get through. You don't need a backup, I have crossed with many homemade things. Unless you have more than 20 Kilos of it. Or its potatoes (srsly don't bother with potatoes). The category of a home made sauce is Baked goods, candies, etc and is broadly permitted here.
posted by zenon at 8:25 AM on June 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Tell the agent you have "Homemade jar of Pesto" to declare. Grandma's do this everyday and I am almost entirely certain (like 99%) it will get through. You don't need a backup, I have crossed with many homemade things. Unless you have more than 20 Kilos of it. Or its potatoes (srsly don't bother with potatoes). The category of a home made sauce is Baked goods, candies, etc and is broadly permitted here.
posted by zenon at 8:25 AM on June 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: All— Thanks for your helpful suggestions! In the end, I left both the ingredient buying and the sauce-making for Canada. It turned out that there were some vegans and gluten-free folks among the group, so the pesto idea went out the window anyway. I wound up making a vindaloo sauce for an assortment of optional meats using a vitamix brought by another guest. We’re midway through the trip and having a blast!
posted by carmicha at 5:15 PM on July 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 5:15 PM on July 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I have no authority/experience with Canadian border control but I would just plan to get store bought sauce alongside the chicken. I have had heartbreaking airport agent experiences confiscating (much less heartfelt) food items like takeout and jarred nut butters that I thought would be a total non-issue; I can't imagine that the labor of making and lugging a big batch of homemade sauce would be worth the very real possibility of having it confiscated.
Also, I'm going to project a little but you sound like me: you really really want the dinner to be amazing and special, so you are overlooking the fact that all the prep, anxiety around whether it will be confiscated, the long stretches of time you'll have to travel with it while it thaws, re-freezing it once, and then finally getting it to the destination is a LOT OF WORK for a relatively simple meal that people will undoubtedly enjoy regardless because you will have cooked it with love :)
posted by seemoorglass at 7:28 PM on June 14, 2018 [10 favorites]