Can I take food and medicine to Germany?

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There are many different restrictions that may apply to you. Three immediate ones are:

  • In your hand luggage, you cannot take liquids over 100 ml. Many foods such as peanut butter are treated as liquids. Medicines over 100 ml may be allowed if they are in the original labelled packaging showing they were prescribed specifically to you. Airlines recommend all medications be in hand luggage to reduce problems you face if your luggage is delayed.

  • Many medications are more restricted in some countries than in others. For example, a medication I can get without prescription in Canada is completely forbidden in New Zealand and to carry it, I needed a letter from my doctor explaining my need for it.

  • Many countries forbid certain food products, especially raw products, worrying that pests or diseases could threaten their agricultural systems. Homemade products are sometimes rejected because they don't have sealed packages, ingredients lists, and the like. For example, this page which appears to be a German government site says:

[in personal travellers’ luggage it is] prohibited to bring meat, milk and products derived therefrom into the European Union from non-EU countries. The ban does not apply to the import of certain products of animal origin in small quantities and subject to certain conditions. This includes infant food and special foods required for medical reasons, special pet feed required for medical reasons, other animal products (such as honey) up to 2 kg per person, fish/fish products up to 20 kg or the weight of one fish (whichever weight is the highest) per person. Some foods that only contain a very small share of processed products of animal origin and hardly pose any risk to human health, such as bread, cakes, biscuits and chocolate, may be brought in without any quantitative restrictions as food for consumption during the journey.

You need to investigate the specific foods and medicines you want to bring in order to determine if they are allowed at all, if there is a limit to the quantity, or if you need additional documentation such as a prescription or a doctor's letter.

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