What foods can you take to Mexico?

[Barbara Member Find all posts View Profile Close Barbara]

I am wondering what foods we can take to Canucn.
I would like to take our favorite jar of Peanut Butter for snacks.
What foods are permitted and what foods are prohibited?
Thanks.
Barbara

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Peanut butter should be fine, and well as any processed food. Fruits, vegetables and beef should not be taken in and other meats might not get by customs either. Odds are that your luggage will not be checked, but why chance it? There are also quantity restrictions on some tobacco products.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

You can take meat as long as it is cooked....
we bring in egg beaters and frozen breakfast sausage - butter, fat free half n half, coffee, cheese, granola, potstickers......the only thing that almost didn't get in was my son's chicken sausage - we didn't have the original wrapper that said it was cooked......

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I once got a Thanksgiving dinner through (though I did tell them that the frozen turkey dish from Omaha Steaks was cooked). That was the first year, before I realized all the hotels serve Thanksgiving dinner in Mexico...

[Barbara Member Find all posts View Profile Close Barbara]

Thanks!

Thanks Tony, Pat and Avery! I use natural organic peanut butter (with the oil on top) and think it would be hard to find there.
I never thought about bringing other foods or frozen foods and cooked meat. Maybe I need to rethink that. Do you take a cooler on the plane for them?

Barbara

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Thanks Tony, Pat and Avery! I use natural organic peanut butter (with the oil on top) and think it would be hard to find there.
I never thought about bringing other foods or frozen foods and cooked meat. Maybe I need to rethink that. Do you take a cooler on the plane for them?

Barbara

Barbara,

I did bring a cooler on that first trip. I taped it up pretty well and put it in with the luggage, figuring it would stay colder that way (plus it was big). Then we left it behind for the housekeeper at the end of the week. We didn't bother on subsequent trips after finding the variety/convenience of restaurant choices available in the area (and the market at the Royals for day to day stuff).

Avery

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

I've never brought a cooler to Mexico. About the only thing I do take is a few packs of Ramen noodles and some spices in case we get hungry before we get to the store.

[nursetanya1973 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close nursetanya1973]

When we went on our last cruise, it was restrictive coming back to the states, but not leaving. We could not take anything that was fresh, or that had been opened.

I barely remember my only trip to Mexico, it was back in high school. But I do remember not to drink the water. I know it has been said, but we stayed in an "ok" hotel and were told later that the "bottled" water in the room, was just tap water. I didn't think much of checking for seals or anything. I can tell you that that was the only water I drank, and it was the finest diet I have ever been on. I did eat fruit, though, watch out for that.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Thanks Tony, Pat and Avery! I use natural organic peanut butter (with the oil on top) and think it would be hard to find there.
I never thought about bringing other foods or frozen foods and cooked meat. Maybe I need to rethink that. Do you take a cooler on the plane for them?

Barbara

My husband and I have a rolling cooler that is DH's carry on - we bring down a few food items that we can't find easily in Mexico or Aruba and then use the cooler for 'adult beverages' and our lunch most days at the beach....on the way home, it holds any items we purchased, our duty free liquor and wet bathing suits as we like to SQUEEZE every last beach moment out of our trip!

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Here's the Cooler

http://www.ebags.com/travelers_club_...m?modelid=7793

We have had this item for several years - and love it...
it has been to FL, Aruba, Cancun, Puerta Vallarta, Antigua, Palm Springs, Carlsbad, St Thomas and on the Disney Cruise Line

Wherever we go, it is a big hit

[Barbara Member Find all posts View Profile Close Barbara]

My husband and I have a rolling cooler that is DH's carry on - we bring down a few food items that we can't find easily in Mexico or Aruba and then use the cooler for 'adult beverages' and our lunch most days at the beach....on the way home, it holds any items we purchased, our duty free liquor and wet bathing suits as we like to SQUEEZE every last beach moment out of our trip!

Pat, Great ideas! I ordered the rolling cooler thanks for the link. I will bring it on all my trips in the future. It will be nice to have a cooler to bring to the beach as well as to bring food on the plane. Thanks for the helpful tips.
Barbara

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Pat, Great ideas! I ordered the rolling cooler thanks for the link. I will bring it on all my trips in the future. It will be nice to have a cooler to bring to the beach as well as to bring food on the plane. Thanks for the helpful tips.
Barbara

To fit in the overhead bin, leave the front pocket fairly empty - if you pack it full, it will not fit. We usually stick our books for the plane in there and take them out before the bag goes in the bin. There are mesh side pockets that will fit your water bottles. We also put a tall garbage bag in the cooler as an extra liner and use ice packs in ziplock bags to make sure we don't have a leak in flight

[Barbara Member Find all posts View Profile Close Barbara]

Thanks Pat for more good ideas. I will remember to leave the front pocket fairly empty except for books that I take out before putting in the overhead bin. I like the plastic liner and ice in ziplock bags tips too.
I like to pack as efficiently as possible and love these types of tips.
Thanks.
Barbara

To fit in the overhead bin, leave the front pocket fairly empty - if you pack it full, it will not fit. We usually stick our books for the plane in there and take them out before the bag goes in the bin. There are mesh side pockets that will fit your water bottles. We also put a tall garbage bag in the cooler as an extra liner and use ice packs in ziplock bags to make sure we don't have a leak in flight

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Funny we have the very same cooler in red and it does go absolutely everywhere with us and particularly on flights.

We usually catch early flights which means we leave here way before the sun rises.The food service ( which was never good ) has come to a grinding hault on most domestic and some international flights depending on time and connection with the exception of snack boxes for purchase. We freeze some water bottles that sub for ice and become our drinks later and always pack a light breakfast &/or lunch.

Some places like the Caymans were well worth bringing some of our meals with us, others are similar or less than our local stores and so we bring our coffee brand or other hard to find items and buy everything else there.

Whatever the cooler eventually gets packed with it comes in VERY handy for beach days.

[Barbara Member Find all posts View Profile Close Barbara]

Lawren, I ordered the red and black too! Most of our other luggage is red or black so I thought this would be perfect. I like your suggestion to freeze water bottles too!

I can't wait to get it and hope it comes before our summer beach car trip. But I am really looking forward to taking it to our first Cancun trip in Nov.
Thanks.
Barbara

Funny we have the very same cooler in red and it does go absolutely everywhere with us and particularly on flights.