Taking food on a plane - help needed!

[BorisJohnsonsHair]

Going to Spain next week and have seen that you are no longer allowed to take milk or meat products in.

Does this mean that I can't take a sandwich to eat on the plane? Or is it ok to take as long as you don't take it off the plane when you land? ie you eat it or dispose of it on the plane?

Haven't been on a flight for about 20 years, so really not sure how it all works these days and Googling wasn't very clear. Thanks.

Buy a meal deal once you are through security and it's fine.

Yes as long as you eat it on the plane that’s fine. Better to take your own food or buy a meal deal at Boots. Often on short flights the range of food available is hit & miss. Poor quality & expensive. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks. Don't understand what the difference is between taking my own and buying one airside though?

There's no restriction on taking those things on board (as there is with liquids) as far as I know.

There won’t be any restriction with either option. Buying a meal is can be the more convenient option, that’s the only difference.

There is no difference. Either way you'll have to bin it when you land.

We've just flown with Ryanair and didn't have to bin our packed lunches.

You can take your own food with you, there's no reason why you can't.

Thanks so much everyone. Planning to take a nice sandwich and a cake but didn't want them to be taken away at security before I even get on the plane!

They will not take your food off you. They won't ask you about your food at all. Only restrictions they seem to adhere to is the liquids ones

You can take any food on to the plane, you just can't take it out of the airport at the other end. So eat or dispose of it on the plane or before customs at your destination. There are usually amnesty bins just before customs for this purpose.

They're not interested in any food you take off the plane (we went to lanzarote in july) and don't check whether you are taking anything in you shouldn't.

I had a jar of branston pickle taken off me at security, sniff. The nice man did check with his supervisor though as he said he thought I should be able to take it through as it was essential for good sandwiches 🤣

Don’t wrap it in tinfoil though - caused some consternation when I put my carry-on through the conveyer belt scanner thing at security.

No one checked our bags at Palma. Apparently they do occasional thorough checks but not routinely. If you get caught out, they’ll just bin it and you won’t be in trouble.

No one gave a damn about taking any food through on any of the holidays I have been on since Brexit. I have heard tell of over zealous customs officers but no sign of them so far.

Flew into Spain last week. I don't remember any bag searches in the Spanish airport. I had some food with me and this is the first I've heard of the restrictions! Suspect it's a non issue in practice if you're just talking about a packed lunch or similar.

Probably counted as a liquid/paste/gel so subject to the 100ml rule

Take whatever you want but just eat it on the plane.

I think some days you might have got away with it but FWIW rules etc (from 2017, not sure if updated):

" Liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) are all liquid items for aviation security purposes" ...... "Food items such as jam, honey and peanut butter are all considered to be liquids, as are all other items of a similar consistency. Note that liquid/solid mixtures of food, such as solid food in a sauce, are also considered liquids."

publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP%201555%20-%20What%20can%20you%20take%20through%20airport%20security.pdf

As far as customs after landing and then entering the EU: There don't appear to many checks done ATM so it appears people are generally getting away with importing food stuffs stuff that objectively they shouldn't.

This is the generic advice from UK gov on taking food from the UK into the EU

*"Taking food and drink into the EU:

You cannot take meat, milk or products containing them into EU countries. There are some exceptions for medical reasons, for example certain amounts of powdered infant milk, infant food, or pet food required for medical reasons"*

To answer the OP it's legit to take a ham sandwich onto a flight ex-UK bound for the EU, but if you want to stick to the rules it should be eaten or dumped before EU customs. .

I take my own, there have been too many instances recently of meal deals selling out. It's not a problem. You can also take an empty water bottle to refill.

Blimey -- Never heard of this. I took a box of store cupboard food to Spain in late December last year. We were staying for a month, travelled by boat and car.
It was staples like Heinz Chili Ketchup, HP sauce, 😊 tinned milk, my own marmalade and jam (yeah, I know i can get some of this there but I had loads in my cupboard at home and it was to keep us going til we could do a supermarket shop.) No fresh goods or meat.
I plan to do the same this Christmas too, we're staying about six weeks this time.
Spanish border police at the port seemed to be concerned only with how much cash I was bringing in -- not much, couple of hundred euros and didn't ask about anything else.

I think the liquids/gels restrictions must only be for airplanes. Brittany Ferries wasn't bothered at Portsmouth, either.
I hope I'm right!

I think the liquids/gels restrictions must only be for airplanes.

Correct, been in place for a few years now. The link I posted was to a UK Civil Aviation Authority document, and I quoted from that.

As far as customs goes, rules are the same for boat/car/train as well as aircraft and the big rule change for UK>EU happened 1st Jan 2021 (I think).

I know since then some folks have been getting away (probably accidently) with bringing stuff in that they shouldn't but the requirements are pretty straightforward...They listed in various places such as the document I've put a link for below. Most importantly it's the section titled "Rules when travelling from a non-EU country" that now apply to Brits arriving in the EU directly from the UK:

europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/carry/meat-dairy-animal/index_en.htm

"If you travel to the EU from a non-EU country, you are not allowed to bring any meat or dairy products with you. You can however bring a limited quantity of fruit and vegetables as well as eggs, egg products and honey. Restricted quantities of fish or fish products are also allowed."