Bringing food into Great Britain

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Meat, dairy, fish and animal products

The rules on bringing meat, dairy, fish and other animal products depend on the country you’re bringing it from.

From the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Greenland

You can bring in the following for personal use:

  • dairy
  • fish
  • meat (there are restrictions if you’re bringing in more than 2kgs of pork or pork products)
  • other animal products - for example, eggs and honey

Because of an outbreak of African swine fever you need to properly dispose of any leftover meat so that pigs and wild boar cannot eat it.

You cannot bring in food from other countries on a connecting flight.

If you’re bringing in pork or pork products over 2kgs

You can only bring in pork or pork products over 2kgs if they’re either:

  • commercially packaged with an EU identification mark 
  • stamped with a health mark if it’s a carcass

If you’re bringing in animal by-products they must be commercially packaged with the name and address of the feed business operator or have an animal by-product commercial document.

If you need to dispose of any pork or pork products before entering the UK, you must do it in a secure bin.

From countries outside the EU

If you’re bringing food from a country outside the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, the following rules apply.

You cannot bring in:

  • meat or meat products
  • milk or milk-based products, except powdered infant milk, infant food or special food (including pet food) needed for medical reasons

You can bring in up to 2kg per person of:

  • honey
  • powdered infant milk, infant food, or special food (including pet food) needed for medical reasons - you can only bring it in if it does not need to be refrigerated before use, and is in branded, unopened packaging (unless in current use)
  • shellfish, such as mussels or oysters
  • snails - these must be preserved or shelled, cooked and prepared
  • frogs’ legs - these must be the back (hind) part of the frog with the skin and internal organs removed
  • insect meat

You can bring in up to 20kg per person in total of fish, including:

  • fresh fish - must be gutted
  • fish products
  • processed fish - must be dried, cooked, cured or smoked
  • lobsters
  • prawns

You cannot bring in caviar unless you have a CITES permit.

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