Hi everyone - first meal of huel this morning and first post here!
I’m planning on doing at least breakfast, but maybe breakfast and lunch with Huel but I’ve got a work trip to Australia coming up and I wasn’t sure if it would be okay to travel internationally with it? I’ll be flying out of Boston, through Dubai, and then into Melbourne (same route back) - can anyone think of any reason why Customs & Border control wouldn’t allow me to carry this in?
I’m leaving in just under 2 weeks and I’ll be gone for 2 weeks, so I’d hate to disrupt my huel routine, but I also don’t want to risk having it taken from me - especially when the weight of it alone could have allowed for another pair of packed shoes
Can’t say about international flights, but had few domestic flights already. Was carrying in original package, and everything went well. TSA officer just asked what is this, and was satisfied with “food supplement” description.
Usually what Australia gets all worried about is produce or other plants that could have non-native diseases. I can’t say with 100% certainty, but it doesn’t seem like Huel would be a problem.
Thanks @vkorn & @AKUSA - I have TSA pre-check so I suspect in general I’ll have an easier go, but I am nervous about someone wanting to confiscate it - but good to know Australia shouldn’t care too much about this. I will likely risk it - I’ll try traveling there with my unopened package so I can at least begin the journey with a sealed container. I think having it in my carry on is probably the lesser of two evils so I can explain if necessary? I’d hate for them to just take it out of my checked luggage.
I would definitely stick with an unopened package and keep it in your carry on. I’ve had some bad experiences with bags getting “randomly searched” during my trips and had things of value go missing. Someone literally took my son’s power cord for his XBOX One but not the XBOX itself. Insanity, I tell you. >.<
Be careful. I was on an international flight and a woman had a carryon full of meal replacement powder. What she did was put each meal’s worth of powder into its own sealed pouch - for some strange reason - and TSA made her open each and every one of them. You can imagine she was extremely upset about it and caused a scene. And you can imagine the TSA worker was numb to the whole situation - she could throw it all away or comply. She was probably at security for 10 minutes doing that. Without knowing what it truly was, it certainly looked like contraband material. Why she ever took the powder out of the original packaging and separated it all out like that was beyond me. Don’t do that
Me? I haven’t traveled with Huel or anything else like it. I probably won’t either.
Hey @edolecki - what’s your reasoning for that? Not worth the hassle? By all definitions it’s technically allowed on planes but I don’t like being slowed down at TSA, and I certainly don’t like feeling like I’m doing something wrong (even if I’m not!!) - but alternatively, since I’m traveling for business and I’ll be stuck in a hotel for 2 weeks, I’d like to think I can get in some decent meals with huel instead of eating out every single meal every single day. So, I’m 95% sure I’m going to risk it.
In your case it probably makes sense. I’d ship some to your hotel ahead of time and not worry about TSA. Or you can risk it and let us all know how it went
Huel does not match the description of any of the customs questions I’ve been asked (~4 countries) and is not a liquid or contraband item so should not be a problem with the TSA. That doesn’t mean it won’t get flagged for closer inspection, but it should get through.
Probably worth mentioning that Australia has very strict customs rules on any food products brought in. I can’t see why a meal replacement product would be an issue in its original packaging but you have to declare any food when you arrive (on your customs arrival form). Usually the customs officers will just look at it and sign off your custom card if they are happy with it but if you don’t declare every item you can end up getting fined.
I travelled domestically in the US and they didn’t like the look of Huel at ALL in NYC. Had to explain it a few times before they did some tests and made me lick the powder. Sadly, I didn’t get to refer him and get a discount, darn it
I just did a trip from Aberdeen, Scotland to Busan in South Korea via Amsterdam and Seoul. I have 3 un-opened bags (Im here for 6 weeks) that were all checked in. I was stopped by customs at Seoul ( I had to collect my bag and change airport ), they thought I would have something to declare, I told them it is just protein shake and the sent me on my way.
No problems anywhere.
Hi everyone! We actually have plenty of Huelers who use Huel specifically for traveling and adventuring. However, according to a recent TSA policy change, it is recommended to store powdered food greater than 12 ounces in your checked luggage, rather than carry on where it could be subject to additional screening and potentially discarded.
I just spent a month traveling through Asia. I took an open bag of Huel (in it’s original package) on 13 different flights through 7 different countries (US, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and India) and didn’t have any problems. I put it in checked-in luggage on all flights except one, at which they wiped it down for bomb residue and sent me on my way.
We actually have plenty of Huelers who use Huel specifically for traveling and adventuring. However, according to a recent TSA policy change, it is recommended to store powdered food greater than 12 ounces in your checked luggage, rather than carry on where it could be subject to additional screening and potentially discarded.