The government's law enforcement agency, Border Force UK, oversees the regulations - which apply to all four home nations.
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What food/drink products can be brought home?
You can bring meat, dairy, fish and animal products into the UK for personal use without issues, depending on the country you're bringing them from.
If you're travelling from the EU, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Greenland or the Faroe Islands, you can bring back fish, dairy products, meat and other animal products, such as honey and eggs. You can also bring back any vegetables. There are some restrictions on meat, as you can't bring back more than 2kg of pork, or other pork products.
Limited amounts of alcohol can be brought home including a maximum of 42 litres of beer, 18 litres of wine, 4 litres of spirits and 9 litres of fortified wine.
You can't bring in food such as meat and meat products, or milk and milk-based products, from any other countries outside the list above, even on a connecting flight.
What can you bring from countries outside the EU?
If you’re bringing food from a country outside the EU and the other destinations listed above, different rules apply.
Each individual can bring back a maximum of 2kg of powdered baby milk, honey, special food (including pet foods) for medical reasons and shellfish: powdered baby milk, baby food and special foods needed for medical reasons can be brought into the UK only if they don't need to be refrigerated before use and if they're in unopened, branded packaging, or in current use.
Each person can bring back up to 20kg of fish that can be fresh, cooked, dried, cured or smoked. This can include prawns and lobsters, but you can't bring caviar back without a special CITES permit.
You are allowed up to 2kg of fruit and vegetables, excluding potatoes, as long as they're in your personal baggage and are free from any signs of diseases and pests.
You can also bring back a limited amount of alcohol, including up to 16 litres of beer and four litres of wine. Either two litres of fortified wine and sparkling wine, or one litre of spirits and other liqueurs are also allowed.
Do you need to declare food products at customs?
As you enter the UK, you should declare food products at customs. If you fail to do so and you're discovered carrying banned products, you could be prosecuted for a criminal offence and have the products taken away by Border Force and destroyed: this will apply if Border Force believes you've brought something into the UK illegally, or if you've brought back too much of any restricted product.
Similarly, any product that has potentially been cross-contaminated, such as with blood from meat, can be taken away and destroyed, along with every other item in the bag. This can include your clothing and even the whole bag!
If you're in any doubt about the items you're bringing home, go to the red channel at customs, or to the red point phone, to explain your dilemma to a Border Force officer.
If your items are confiscated and destroyed, you can appeal to Border Force if you feel they were wrongly seized. If you win an appeal, you may be able to claim compensation.
How many people bring food into the UK illegally?
According to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, despite the regulations, 50 people per day are caught bringing illegal food into Britain. This equates to around 21,000 illegal personal food items in one year.
The majority are meat and dairy products brought back from non-EU countries to the UK's ports and airports. The worst offenders are travellers returning from the Middle East and Eastern Asia. More than 1,000 of the seizures were made from people arriving in the UK from these destinations.
Although the rules are intended to protect people, livestock and crops in the UK from diseases and pests, still people flout them. The government says most people are bringing back these illegal items simply because they like the taste - but they could also be bringing back diseases that we don’t want or need!
Protecting our health, livestock and crops is essential, so ministers have been working hard to raise awareness of the rules surrounding personal food imports.
The safest way to pack and store food from abroad is to use food quality airtight food storage boxes and containers. Always put perishable foods in the fridge as soon as possible after you get back, or in the freezer if you're intending to store anything for a longer period.