Can I put food in my hold luggage for flying?

Am I allowed to take food items (specifically: porridge, rice, pasta, cereal bars, nuts, chocolate, nutella, golden syrup, regular butter, and peanut butter) on my flight with me if they are stored in my hold luggage. That is, I will not be taking them in the cabin with me. I'm fairly certain about the solids, but the nuttella, syrup, and peanut butter I'm not to sure about.

If it makes a difference I will be going from the UK to Switzerland (in July)

Thanks for any help

Best Answer

You're allowed to take most foods in checked luggage, as long as they don't require special handling (e.g., being kept cold) and won't go off horribly if your baggage is delayed.

However, many countries have restrictions on what foods can be imported. Items that are typically restricted are things like fresh fruit and veg, meat (fresh or even cooked, in many cases) and dairy. As such, the butter may be a problem: you should check what can be imported to Switzerland, and you'll probably need to wait until after Brexit happens to know what the actual rules are. (EEA/EFTA countries tend to be more permissive about food crossing their borders from the rest of the EEA, and the UK won't be in that by the time you're travelling.)

Having said all of that, you should consider whether you really need to bring all this stuff with you. Things like butter and pasta can easily be bought when you get there and, while Switzerland is quite an expensive place, it's not that expensive. If you can afford to buy a plane ticket to Switzerland, you can afford to spend a couple more pounds on groceries while you're there than you would at home.