Dried Thai herbs back to UK

[bannork]

Wondering if it's okay to take a few bags ( less than 2 kilos) of dried lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves in my hold luggage on the plane back to Blighty.

Need my weekly shot of lemon grass soup to be tasty and not cost a bomb when back home.

Any useful advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Upnotover]

I think it's not a problem, especially if the packaging identifies what they are.  I think they would qualify as "processed and packaged plant products, such as packaged salads and frozen plant material"  My wife certainly has carried many things in without any alarms being sounded, albeit without baggage ever being searched.

 

See https://www.gov.uk/bringing-food-into-great-britain

[Chetzee]

ideally in sealed packaging with a company brand on the plastic .....     but in real terms you'll sail through with no issue ..... customs in uk seems sparse and no doubt targeting mules from Africa and elsewhere on prior info ...... 

[norfolkandchance]

In the past I have taken fresh Lemon grass, ginger and galangal with no problems. I planted them up and then have constant supply.

[sungod]

48 minutes ago, bannork said:

Wondering if it's okay to take a few bags ( less than 2 kilos) of dried lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves in my hold luggage on the plane back to Blighty.

Need my weekly shot of lemon grass soup to be tasty and not cost a bomb when back home.

Any useful advice would be much appreciated.

 

 

My missus has taken chilli's before, I found this also.

 

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/importing-herbs-and-spices

[bannork]

29 minutes ago, Chetzee said:

ideally in sealed packaging with a company brand on the plastic .....     but in real terms you'll sail through with no issue ..... customs in uk seems sparse and no doubt targeting mules from Africa and elsewhere on prior info ...... 

Lol, they're from my sister- in law's garden. 

[bannork]

23 minutes ago, norfolkandchance said:

In the past I have taken fresh Lemon grass, ginger and galangal with no problems. I planted them up and then have constant supply.

I'd love to grow them in the UK, trouble is the owner of the house I stay in doesn't like greenhouses!

Edited March 31 by bannork

[impulse]

2 hours ago, norfolkandchance said:

In the past I have taken fresh Lemon grass, ginger and galangal with no problems. I planted them up and then have constant supply.

 

I wonder if there's more scrutiny now that Thailand has legalized weed? 

 

I'm not claiming that's the case.  Just pondering...  And wondering if anyone has some recent experience.

 

[MrPancake]

6 hours ago, bannork said:

Wondering if it's okay to take a few bags ( less than 2 kilos) of dried lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves in my hold luggage on the plane back to Blighty.

Need my weekly shot of lemon grass soup to be tasty and not cost a bomb when back home.

Any useful advice would be much appreciated.

 

 

As long as your 2 kilos don't end up being weed, you should be fine imo.

Send an email to customs to be sure...

[HauptmannUK]

Over the years my wife has bought hundreds of kilos back to the UK.  We have travelled many times with Emirates with a combined 100kg of baggage - 70kg+ of it being foodstuffs of every kind.  Customs never taken an interest in it. Part of her 'empire' is a restaurant which serves Thai food and she likes to experiment with different foods/regional styles etc. and if recipes work out she then finds a proper importer to source for the business. But in truth you can now find everything you need, fresh, in the UK provided you're prepared to pay.

Edited March 31 by HauptmannUK

[Dionigi]

all are items that can be bought fresh in the uk at chinese shops

 

[bannork]

20 minutes ago, Dionigi said:

all are items that can be bought fresh in the uk at chinese shops

 

I found the price of galangal in our local Chinese supermarket to be outrageous, £2.50 for a tiny amount.

The lemon grass wasn't much better.

[cowellandrew]

18 minutes ago, Dionigi said:

all are items that can be bought fresh in the uk at chinese shops

 

Yeah but free at my house in thai, expensive in Chinatown uk,

 

Wife ups her luggage allowance to 40kgs coming back from Thailand sometimes a few problems, over 2kgs dried shrimps can be problem, also some of the pastas,

Dried fish ok, dried fruit!

[cowellandrew]

3 hours ago, cowellandrew said:

Yeah but free at my house in thai, expensive in Chinatown uk,

 

Wife ups her luggage allowance to 40kgs coming back from Thailand sometimes a few problems, over 2kgs dried shrimps can be problem, also some of the pastas,

Dried fish ok, dried fruit!

Wife's last uk haul,