Importing food into the EU

The issue can relate to day/time of arrival; will the supermarkets be open to enable you to get food for evening meal and/or breakfast if you arrive relatively late?
Plan ahead - if you are taking the short ferry to France and are planning to arrive after the shops close then eat your evening meal either on the boat or before you leave; if you are taking a longer ferry to Spain then you have to eat on the boat (unless you plan to fast for 24 hours). And, since the regulation is about bringing food into the EU, not about taking it out of the UK then there is nothing to stop you taking your own food onto the ferry - provided you eat it before you disembark. :)
 
I figure there must be a supermarket at the Cite de Europe place in Calais. We always use the tunnel so that is really close.
We always get a late ferry and head straight for Cite de Europe. There is a safe parking area for Motorhomes, with plenty of others doing the same, get a good nights sleep , head for the nearby Lidl in the morning and stock up, fill up with cheaper diesel and then set off on our journey.
 
We normally go through the tunnel around mid morning so I guess if we have to, we'll hit the nearest supermarket then. It'll put an extra hour or so on the first day but can't be helped. This won't be a problem for 2 trips a year as they are done in May and Sept so plenty of campsites open. Our January trip to Spain though is a different matter as we press on the the Rouen area for the first night, as the number of open sites is limited.

Don't get me wrong, we love the food options abroad however for the first night we'd prefer not to have to worry about that, so it would be a home made meal or a BBQ.

I have emailed the EU again to specifically ask about tinned food as well...to check if that is also banned.
 
We normally go through the tunnel around mid morning so I guess if we have to, we'll hit the nearest supermarket then. It'll put an extra hour or so on the first day but can't be helped. This won't be a problem for 2 trips a year as they are done in May and Sept so plenty of campsites open. Our January trip to Spain though is a different matter as we press on the the Rouen area for the first night, as the number of open sites is limited.

Don't get me wrong, we love the food options abroad however for the first night we'd prefer not to have to worry about that, so it would be a home made meal or a BBQ.

I have emailed the EU again to specifically ask about tinned food as well...to check if that is also banned.
I can't see tinned goods being any different. You can take fish up to 20kg, I believe.
 
I can't see tinned goods being any different. You can take fish up to 20kg, I believe.

I thought that as it had been processed it would be potentially free of pathogens which they say is the biggest issue for the EU when you look at their website on this subject.

Fresh fish too stinky for our MH. Tins of tuna maybe.
 
A vegetarian meal would do the trick and wouldn’t kill the most avid meat eater. I have even seen Charlie survive an odd veg or salad item 😂😂😂
 
Eggs are allowed. What about a good omelette or Tortilla? We have our own small flock of hens so I may sneak one or two in by hiding them in the toilet.

Edit: oops!! No potatoes allowed, so no Tortilla, unless I can use Sweet Potatoes, which aren't potatoes, and I'll need to use water instead of milk. Sounds delicious -not!
 
Omelettes are okay with water but no cheese or meat in it so again some veggies (mushroom omelettes are magic :) )
 
Eggs are allowed. What about a good omelette or Tortilla? We have our own small flock of hens so I may sneak one or two in by hiding them in the toilet.

Edit: oops!! No potatoes allowed, so no Tortilla, unless I can use Sweet Potatoes, which aren't potatoes, and I'll need to use water instead of milk. Sounds delicious -not!
Yoghurt instead of milk ?
 
I can't see tinned goods being any different. You can take fish up to 20kg, I believe.


I have had a reply from the EU and you are quite correct. It does not matter what state the dairy or meat is in: raw, cooked, frozen or tinned...it is verboten!

I'll have to hide my emergency tin of corned beef then! :LOL:
 
I emailed CAMC re food when travelling to Northern Ireland as the border is now down the Irish Sea, Attached is their response. Travelling with pets has altered but it does not affect taking food.

EU letter.jpg
 
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Nice one. Thanks for that.

We are considering a month trip to Ireland (the Republic and NI) in September. One travel option is to enter via NI so that we can start in Belfast with the Titanic exhibition and move up the coast before entering the Republic. Going this way will afford us the ability to carry some home cooked food as I assume entering the Republic via ferry, we would be subject to the same EU restrictions on foodstuffs, as entering France.
 
Nice one. Thanks for that.

We are considering a month trip to Ireland (the Republic and NI) in September. One travel option is to enter via NI so that we can start in Belfast with the Titanic exhibition and move up the coast before entering the Republic. Going this way will afford us the ability to carry some home cooked food as I assume entering the Republic via ferry, we would be subject to the same EU restrictions on foodstuffs, as entering France.
A word of caution when booking a ferry. We booked through CAMC. We preferred to go Cairnryan to Larne, not Belfast so we booked with P & O Ferries. Stenna Line go Cairnryan to Belfast. Covid struck and restrictions happened. We then found out that P & O would only issue a credit note, not a refund, whereas Stenna would have given a refund. CAMC said that they didn't have to as it wasn't a package holiday.
We hope to use the credit note this year. Previously we went south round the Wild Atlantic Way anti clockwise to Dublin. It was beautiful. This time we hope to go clockwise on the Wld Atlantic Way and round to Belfast.
Good luck with your plans.
 
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Thanks

If it permits our first choice would be Italy but I think that's looking unlikely tbh.
 
Yoghurt is dairy I'm afraid, so it would have to be a vegan yoghurt. Anyone tried it?
Aquafaba instead of eggs if vegan, make a great omlette, then you have the beans left for another meal or as hummus accompaniment.
 
Update from the EU on Quorn



The EU have responded...

Please see below a reply from our colleagues from EU Policies 2:

Quorn, as a fungus-derived product, is not a product of animal origin. Therefore, if not mixed with any ingredient of animal origin, there is no particular requirement to import in the EU.


More generally, there are no specific guidelines or legal provisions that specify which information must be shown. Normally the product description is on the packaging and that will be the information that custom officers could be expected to look at.

Finally, quorn is also available on the mainland.


So there we are: take an empty packet with you plus a translation maybe.

How they can tell whether a frozen chilli has quorn or meat though will be interesting!
 

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