taking food to france

[canman]

has anyone had experience of motorhome beeing searched travelling Dover to Calais

 

[David and Sally]

Use the search facilty. There are various threads such as this

Food into france

Hi all I am sure this is covered a lot but am new to this site and still learning my way around, we are going to Germany in July and have been told we cannot take dairy or meat into France is this correct?

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[GerTee]

Never been searched, think they have better things to do with their time.

 

[RedFrame]

General advice and experience on here suggests... "Take what you want for personal consumption, but don't hide it".

Cheers
Red.

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

It's OK they have food there for sale.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Nirvanauk]

Welcome to Motorhome Fun.

 

[maison]

Travel to France regularly and it’s never been a problem.

However, we don’t take much as we prefer to eat/try the local produce wherever we visit.

 

[Hawkstone]

I am off on Wednesday. I will take a small amount of the prohibited foods as usual, milk etc…just enough to last until I get to a supermarket. Never been searched, usually just asked if the gas is off.

 

[Ridgeway]

Fridge and freezer were both full yesterday as we dared the double risk of existing UK and then finally entering CH, result will be lots of nice steak and kidney pies this winter

In the unlikely event of being stopped they then have to find it, in the very unlikely event of that happening the worst that can happen is it may be confiscated quite happy to take the risk and i guess one day I’ll loose out, until then

I think Boarder Force has alternative things to focus on these days and quite rightly so.

 

[Gingernuts]

Just drove Dover Calais last week, forgot all about the food issue and arrived in France with 2 packs lurpak butter,Danish bacon, a selection of Tescos cold meat and leerdammer cheese oh and a 4 pint of milk, all taken out of the household fridge when I left. No one checked…..Now in Spain

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[nicholsong]

I am off on Wednesday. I will take a small amount of the prohibited foods as usual, milk etc…just enough to last until I get to a supermarket. Never been searched, usually just asked if the gas is off.

Michelle, I doubt whether it was French Customs who were interested in the gas, on or off.

Fridge and freezer were both full yesterday as we dared the double risk of existing UK and then finally entering CH, result will be lots of nice steak and kidney pies this winter

In the unlikely event of being stopped they then have to find it, in the very unlikely event of that happening the worst that can happen is it may be confiscated quite happy to take the risk and i guess one day I’ll loose out, until then

I think Boarder Force has alternative things to focus on these days and quite rightly so.

UK Border Force are not there to enforce EU entry restrictions.

 

[SpeedyDux]

I was searched before boarding in Portsmouth (UK Customs - random?) and again by the Douaniers in Caen / Ouistreham on the return journey.

Nobody was interested in whatever food I might be carrying.

I must fit some kind of profile. It's not the first time that I've been pulled out of a queue to be searched. They never find any contraband ...

 

[Reallyretired]

We've been searched for stowaways, both ways. I suggested to the searcher they might be pleased anyone was leaving the UK but apparently not.
We take whatever is in the fridge, loads of dog food, as changing them is a recipe for the squits. Also take bacon and a ton of tea bags. Most other things available in EU.
Nobody at border has been remotely interested in food. We also take a load of cheese from France to Spain as we've not found a Spanish cheese we like.
Returning we have loads of wine, cheese, swordfish from Spain and whatever else we have.

 

[gus-lopez]

 

[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[nicholsong]

We took several British dairy products into France this year, e.g. Cheddar cheese.

Bought in Lidl, Poland! So what is the difference if bought in Lidl UK?

 

[scotjimland]

I think the French border gendarme have more to do than confiscate your ham sandwich ...

Never been searched or even asked what food we have .. we generally take the basics to last a few days before we hit a Hypermarket to stock up on French delights, their supermarkets put ours to shame..

They have huge selections of cheeses, sea food, charcuterie, bread, meat, pastries, all manor of yummy things..
By contrast, our local Tesco Extra has closed its butchers, fishmongers and deli counters..,. nothing fresh, all pre-packed in a factory..it's dire .. I really despair... but if you want crips they have a full length isle stacked on both sites with them.. sign of the times..

 

[Lumpy]

We went with empty fridge and cupboards in May because we like to buy food locally as we tour around, I believe there can be a hefty fine if they do stop and search and find that you are carrying foods that are not allowed. We were not searched or even asked about food BTW.

 

[Ridgeway]

Also isn’t the issue taking food from UK to EU so technically if one were to be headed to any non-EU country as final destination then i guess it’s OK ?

 

[claude et maude]

I am off on Wednesday. I will take a small amount of the prohibited foods as usual, milk etc…just enough to last until I get to a supermarket. Never been searched, usually just asked if the gas is off.

I always have a bit of food on board but love eating local stuff asap after arrival.

The gas issue perplexed me so I did a little trial, the last few trips on Le Shuttle, where they pull you over and check gas is off my gas has not been off but I told them it was. They then proceed to do their “checks”. It is clear they have no training as after their checks they wish us well and send us on our way…with the gas on. Some of the checks are hilarious “can you try lighting your hob” so I press the ignition button but don’t go anywhere near the burner control “thanks, that’s perfect, have a good trip”. Even better was the last one, opened the gas locker for her, “oh, how does that work” so I explained, correctly how to turn the gas off “great, have a good trip”, although I explained she did not attempt to see if the valve was open or to try to close the valve. Baffled!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[RedFrame]

I always have a bit of food on board but love eating local stuff asap after arrival.

The gas issue perplexed me so I did a little trial, the last few trips on Le Shuttle, where they pull you over and check gas is off my gas has not been off but I told them it was. They then proceed to do their “checks”. It is clear they have no training as after their checks they wish us well and send us on our way…with the gas on. Some of the checks are hilarious “can you try lighting your hob” so I press the ignition button but don’t go anywhere near the burner control “thanks, that’s perfect, have a good trip”. Even better was the last one, opened the gas locker for her, “oh, how does that work” so I explained, correctly how to turn the gas off “great, have a good trip”, although I explained she did not attempt to see if the valve was open or to try to close the valve. Baffled!

You don't mention if you subsequently isolated the gas before boarding the Train...?

Cheers
Red.

 

[Nirvanauk]

You don't mention if you subsequently isolated the gas before boarding the Train...?

Cheers
Red.

I hope they did.

 

[claude et maude]

You don't mention if you subsequently isolated the gas before boarding the Train...?

Cheers
Red.

Switched it off before boarding. I’m an ex tunnel engineer and actually worked on the tunnel build for TML so I understand all the dangers underground. I just find it amazing that those doing the checks have no knowledge or apparent training.

 

[claude et maude]

As part of my ongoing trials at the eurotunnel gas checking area, for my own personal amusement, we recently went uk-France and back again, again.

On the way out I was directed to lane 2 of the checking, searching, etc area. Pulled up got out and walked around with keys in hand ready to open the gas locker when the young gentleman asked if my gas was off. I replied in the affirmative and his response was “thanks, have a good trip”! So they directed me across all the traffic to the checking station to answer one question (one on sport would probably have been more useful) then sent me back out to try and get into the queue for the next booth/barrier.

On the way back from France we had no checks at all for the very first time.

I can only conclude from these recent experiences that a) they are not that bothered and b) even the staff that are bothered have had no training as they don’t know how to isolate the gas bottles.