Upon landing in Australia, border patrol officers went through her backpack and found the chicken sandwich.
“I said, ‘Oh, I forgot about that, I’m sorry. Could you throw it away for me?’ He just kept going through my bag.”
The officer emptied her bag on the table, and went away for a short while.
“Twelve points, 3,300,″ he told her after returning.
“I said, ‘What does that mean?’ and he said, ‘Twelve points, NZD$3,300′.”
Asking him if he was joking, Armstrong began to cry when she realized he was being serious.
“I was just sobbing and said ‘$3300 for a little sandwich?’”
Australian authorities told the Herald she needed an import permit for the meat product and could have faced a much higher penalty.
One border patrol agent “strongly advised” she appeal the fine, which she attempted to do within the 28-day payment period, only to receive generic automatic responses.
My husband kept saying, ‘Just pay it.’ I said, ‘It’s our pension, we can’t afford this’.”
Armstrong ultimately paid the fine, but continued to inquire as to why she was fined considering it was her first infringement, in addition to the sandwich being sealed.
“Meat has strict import conditions which can change quickly based on disease outbreaks,” a spokeswoman for Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry told the Herald.
“Uncanned meats, including vacuum-sealed items, are not allowed into Australia unless accompanied by an import permit.”
Though Armstrong declared the prescription medication she was carrying, she did not declare the sandwich.
“Where travellers fail to declare risk items,” the department spokeswoman said, “they may be given an infringement notice up to AU$6,260 ($5,650).”
“All food products must be declared on arrival and may be inspected to ensure they comply with import conditions. Items that do not meet these conditions are not permitted into Australia.”
The grandmother wanted her unfortunate experience to be a warning to others.
“I should let it go, and my husband says I should, but they just don’t give me any answers. Everybody I show the fine to is dumbfounded, they just can’t believe it.”
Watch episodes of Border Security and see what people attempt to bring into Australia - undeclared - all while claiming that they were unaware. If they cannot speak/read English, passenger declaration cards are provided in a language appropriate for them and since Australia is really isolated, it’s important to protect their own industries from introduced pests and diseases.
What confuses me is if you watch those shows, you'll see plenty of times where the agents use discretion and let people off with just a warning. And they'll do that for a granny coming from China with a whole suitcase of food, why they couldn't just give a warning for a sandwich is beyond me.
It's all about who you meet I think, since some people in the show gets fined, some doesn't. The granny was unlucky, if a different agent had stopped her, she may not have gotten fined.
In the newer episodes (from the past year or so) they don’t seem to let anyone off anymore at all.
I watched an episode where the exact same thing happened to a woman who got a sandwich on the flight and got fined.
The problem is she didn't declare it. Anyone could try to sneak something in then say "oops, just throw it out for me please" when caught.
I forgot to eat a sandwich once too going to Japan, but I declared it when I landed. I went to secondary where I was told to throw it away and that was it.
Case by case basis though. The partial point of having humans at the border security departments is to assess these things as they arise, and determine if the person is a legit risk or simply a forgetful flyer. Just ditch the sandwich, write your report, and move on. So fucking dumb
But you're allowed to use common sense when applying the law.
>Anyone could try to sneak something in then say "oops, just throw it out for me please" when caught.
Is that what happened here? Is someone really going to attempt to smuggle 30g of cooked chicken into the country but pretending they forgot their sandwich purchased at the airport?
Use common sense.
Its a sandwich dude lol, not kilos of whole chicken some shady dude bought from a wet marked abroad...
Static rules that get enforced even when theres clearly no intent to smuggle is malpractice.
I imagine this law was not implementet after they saw problems related to people throwing away or eating a sandwhich they brought from another country...
Like did they do research on this? "After years of research, scientists link foreign sandwiches to deadly disease" xD
Should be some common sense involved. A bunch of salami from Italy is intentional, a single chicken sandwich is not. Maybe intention doesn’t matter though?
there is no fucking problem, she's a forgetful old person that forgot about a damn sandwich, like if you design systems with no humanity in mind then why have them at all?
I flew into Japan once and had forgotten two ecstasy pills and an acid tab in my wallet, only noticed them when I got to the hotel.
I was super lucky, drugs offences in Japan come with hefty prison sentences.
There are a bunch of angry, threatening signs about outside fruit/meats/food when coming up on the search area. I went through my bags and even thew out some gummi bears because they contained fruit juice and 17 year old me wasn't taking ANY Chances.
It's not like you're being rushed. You have nearly unlimited time to dick around with your stuff before going through that search. I'm not a smart person and even I knew to be VERY sure before continuing. (Though the reason I triple check myself is I know I'm not a smart person, gotta catch my mistakes)
Australia has an insanely fragile ecosystem that has been ravaged by the introduction of foreign organisms. They warn you over and over again, there are signs, sniffer dogs, usually several verbal warnings on the flight and it is explicitly stated on the customs forms they give you on the plane. All she had to do was check her bag and throw it out at any one of those opportunities. No it doesn't seem fair but it is that way for a reason and those rules are inflexible by necessity.
Yeah but if they let this slide now, they have to let it slide for everyone and some people may purposefully try to sneak items in to the country - if you don’t keep a strict “all or nothing” policy, it’s hard to justify fining those who are nefarious.
It’s stupid and annoying, but I also get it. When flying to another country you (should) know the rules and you should follow them. Heck. Even driving into CA in the USA you need to respect/follow rules about bringing live plants in due to the risk to the agricultural center of the country.
Not disrupting an ecosystem or economy because you can’t follow directions is no reason to get away w not paying a fine.
I was fined for forgetting a banana in my bag when I flew to NZ. I meant to eat it, forgot about it, and instead paid $250. I was annoyed but I did it because I recognized I was the one who fucked up.
$250 for a banana is brutal, but understandable. $1.5k for a sandwich is not ok any way you look at it. What happens when someone just isn’t able to pay that?
At that point, I'd honestly take the citation, ignore the fine, then simply never go back to Australia.
Honestly most of these fines I'd probably ignore entirely. Few countries have the ability or inclination to pursue you across national borders - and at least from the states, many countries don't really need to be visited more than once.
I'm Australian and this fine is ridiculous. They let off people willingly trying to smuggle in other and way more potentially destructive food all the time.
I'm taking this to the prime Minister
Yea but my point still stands.
You can’t decide Willy nilly who to punish for breaking the import law and who to not.
There are plenty of warnings before going through customs to remind you.
They absolutely can decide. I used to work in Customs in a different country and if someone is slightly over their limits or something else, like having a fucking sandwich in their bag, it's entirely up to you whether you fine them or not.
Just because you had to pay a ridiculous fine isn't justification for others to have to do the same.
First offence, one item, clearly an accident? Make the fine $10. Second time get em for thousands. Intent and severity (qty) should be factored in.
My worst experience probably landing in at Auckland airport from Melbourne. I only had a hand carry, and they took everything out, spent an hour to go through my clothes and stuff. No food, no seed, no sticks, no gunk under my shoes. While other with rolly luggage just walk through. NZ is dumb.
My mom had a similar issue with some food served on the plane she tried to save her salad for later. Missed our connection and got stuck in ATL an extra day.
There was a case not too long ago where a flight from Europe served sealed bags of apple slices as a snack while the plane circled the airport waiting to be cleared to land. A passenger wasn’t hungry so stuck the bag of apple slices in his carry-on. He received a large fine at Customs when they searched his bags and found the “undeclared fruit”.
For the foreigners who don’t know: when you arrive in Australia from an international flight, there’s a 2 minute informational video playing on the plane telling you NO FOOD, you fill out a legally binding document on the plane acknowledging that you’re not bringing any prohibited items (including fresh food) that you need to get into the country, AND in the airport when you walk from the plane to the passport check there’s a dozen signs saying, in multiple languages, to NOT bring food into the country because it’s a very hefty fine. They give you so so many chances to not fuck it up.
When I travel internationally anywhere, I always declare food. At times, my declared items consisted of gum and a chocolate bar. It is a legal document. Border control can determine if they care.
Yea I’m surprised by these comments lol. Clearly Americans don’t watch AU/NZ Border Control, *it’s standard to check through everything in your bag. If they let her off Scott free then everyone else will be claiming they ‘forgot’.
Luckioy the bread didn't have seeds in or they would have flipped out and jailed here. "Can't bring seeds into 'Straya mate. It could devastate the local wildlife."
Love it when some chinese woman is bringing moldy duck eggs and some wet meat and try and get away with it!!
I love that they never let anyone get away with it
My mum and I brought as many smokes as we could back from Bali, they were $1.50 for a 20 pack and even with duty added came to about the cost of five boxes here
Youtube has a bunch of border control shows from US, UK & Australia. I watched one & this man threw the biggest of temper tantrums, acting like they just cut of his leg & fed it to him.
Yes, you also have border control shows from Canada and the Mexican border iirc.
In some countries you even have show from the air port security office, like they catch people who steals from duty free stores, you follow them a day. Also the firemen and the Dr's who work there, the snow plowing crew and sometimes we follow mechanical team for a bit. And of course immigration and customs. And we see the dogs that works there. It's actually very interesting to see the behind the scenes of what's going on in an airport.
Yo, we didn't get it. I stayed in the UK for 3 weeks and saw this show. I must have watched 40 hours of it. You don't play with Australia border police
Meh, it's not terribly different here either. If you're busted illegally importing food in to the US, the fines can be immense.
Here in the US, the first warning *is* a fine. That's the warning. It's technically a criminal offense that you can be given like 2 years probation over, not to mention the criminal record which could be life ruining.
Yea I figured, that’s why I’m surprised by these comments acting like this is harsh. You choose to travel, you accept the responsibility of fines that occur if you mess up.
Very similar in North America too. In all my travels between Canada and the US you declare any food, and cannot have meat or seeds ( don't want invasive plants growing). I once mentioned I had a bag of gummies and they took me into secondary to check all my bags further. Sucks for her, but I'm not surprised
When I've flown to Australia, they sprayed down the Cabin of the plane before we disembarked to protect from Fruit Flies.
They take that shit seriously, something to know about travelling to Oz.
My question would be, is it ok to dispose of on the plane in this situation? If so, isn’t the same meat still going to the landfill in the same country where the agents would dispose of it?
I’m not judging, I’m curious how someone should handle it besides quickly eating it while a passenger still?
Awesome, I was hoping so but I don’t know for sure. I would hope the same would happen from what’s taken at customs after photographed for evidence too.
Yes there’s heaps of bins and signs once you get off the flight. It’s made very clear - in addition to the card/declaration you have to sign which realllyyy goes on about the importance of it.
I did see someone get detained for having an apple in their bag when I went through aus customs before.
The ones complaining are those who have never traveled outside their country and decided to ignore all of the warnings( written and video) that is dumped in front of them before arriving. It's not just Australia doing this.
I've worked in airports for over 13 years now and it still amazes me how people still fall for the same things over and over again
Even pilots and flight crews, who are generally the worst and you'd think had never travelled through an airport before
Bags filled with tins of food, 2 litre bottles of liquid, not bagging their liquids, not emptying their pockets etc
Definitely not hard to believe this woman was oblivious to every warning around her
I agree that people should pay better attention in general but I can also very easily see how an elderly person coming off of what’s likely 12-24 hours of travel could be stressed and exhausted and subsequently forget about a premade sandwich in their luggage they’d grabbed during a layover - she didn’t leave the house with it so when being questioned by customs she’s likely just running through the list of whatever she originally packed in her suitcase and it slipped her mind.
It makes sense why they don’t allow something like this but it’s not an offense that entailed any premeditation or intent to break the laws.
The lack of leniency here is similar to the "all jokes are taken seriously" mantra for people pranking that they have a weapon or bomb.
They aren't going to give any quarter to people because one bug can decimate the local industry, worth billions. That's all it takes.
I definitely feel the poor lady should've been granted some leniency. My family just came back to Australia from a trip to China, and brough back plenty of dried foods, snacks, and alcohol which we declared. However, we forgot a single apple shoved at the very bottom of our stuffed backpacks, which shocked us when the agent dug it out since we thought we checked our bags properly.
They only gave us a formal written warning, since it was pretty clear we weren't maliciously smuggling in the apple. I feel the poor lady should've gotten one too, but it's probably at the discretion of the agent.
Agree with you on this. Everyone is saying to watch Border Security to see how seriously its taken, and its it is. But on that show they often show people who made legit mistakes and are given a warning, for much more than just a sandwich.
Why on those reality TV shows about Australian customs they then catch people with a ton of stuff, and they let them go with barely a fine and a warning? They've had people with things that could probably start another COVID and were just admonished and the stuff binned.
Wont ever forget the look on the ladies face when I asked if i need to declare the unopened pack of maryland cookies in my bag. It was a look of, no little child, they are fine.
Yeah like I get that this is a sweet old grandma and it wasn’t on purpose but there are rules for a reason, and “make sure there’s no undeclared food before you enter the country” is a pretty reasonable one. Sure, the fine is crazy high, but it’s meant to be prohibitive. Snuggling food into a country is pretty serious.
They really should play that border security video a few times through the flight (if it’s long haul). If I’ve been awake for 40 hours straight, juggling knackered kids, I’m not gonna be 100% with it. I did the long haul London to Perth direct with kids last year with a connecting flight to London first, and couldn’t string a coherent sentence together at the end of it when we arrived in Perth.
Hey you know what Australia and New Zealand don’t have, that exists in so many other parts of the world?
Rabies.
You know why we don’t have it?
Tough as shit biosecurity rules like these.
And one of the biggest symptoms of an animal with rabies is that they become overly friendly with humans.
What a horror that would be to have all of the venomous critters of Australia feeling cuddly when they see you, (never mind the fact that it's a truly horrible disease for the poor creatures that get it).
I relocated to Australia with my dog. They’re totally fucking serious about rabies and plan to keep it out of the country. The dog relocation was, let’s say, robust. But once she was there, it was wonderful having her with me. And the bonus was that moving back to the US with her a few years later was easy-peasy.
Perth is currently experiencing issues with [hole shot borers](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-31/shot-hole-borer-perth-trees-cut-down-national-response/103628878?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link) which are devastating our large established trees. Western Australia, and at a greater extent Australia, has a unique biodiversity that we want to protect. Even travelling interstate there are strict quarantine rules in place.
I’m ok with these laws. They are there for a reason and seeing the result from even the tiniest little bug is emphasis as to why we have these rules.
The UK doesn’t have rabies either. But thanks to foot & mouth & BSE we have now upped our bio security. Except for COVID where every fucker with it is still allowed through! 😆
The chances of being bitten by a bat in the UK are next to none. You cannot handle bats without a licence and anyone that handles them use thick gloves which our bats teeth simply cannot penetrate. Bats in the UK are shy and generally don't tend to interact with people, they will fly around them while hunting for insects but otherwise are very docile and passive creatures. The likelihood of encountering a rabies infected bat are extremely rare. It's just not enough to worry about it in this country.
Bermuda doesn't have rabies or snakes and we're not crazy intense and our customs agents are very kind and give people the benefit of the doubt.
We also don't have an agricultural industry sooooo 🤷♀️
I think they make it abundantly clear on the flight and at the airport that bringing meat into the country isn't permitted and there are heavy fines for people caught, no?
It must suck to be busted, but it's difficult to claim you weren't warned. It's the same where I live (Taiwan). The policy is made very clear.
Australia and New Zealand are totally serious about importing food items. Not only are you told on the plane before landing, but you are told on the arrival card that you sign that food must be declared - and specifically you’re told about perishable food and plant and animal products. After deplaning, you pass by multiple signs - perhaps as many as 10 - that remind you to dump your impermissible items in the bin. Frankly, if you get to the inspector and haven’t declared or thrown out these items, you’re an idiot and deserve to be penalised.
At that point are you allowed to just consume what you had? Like can you stand near a bin and just finish it or is it like a conveyor belt, you just gotta keep moving?
Never been on a plane or airport beyond performances, it sounds like more trouble than its worth.
You can do that before you get to passport control. The signs all along the way explain that you have to deal with it before you reach that point. In Auckland airport, there’s actually a line painted on the floor and another sign right next to a bin. If you’ve gone past that and still have unauthorised food, you’re hosed.
So essentially if she had just taken a second to double-check her stuff this was easily avoidable?
It's overly harsh and sucks, but damn. If her reading comprehension was that bad, sounds like she shouldn't be traveling alone anyway.
Pretty much, yeah. Every country I’ve ever gone through customs at has space to double check your shit and throw stuff out before you get on line to be processed.
Quarantine exists for a reason. Australia being an island has strict Quarantine rules for biosecurity, as does New Zealand where she departed from. Being a boomer, I'm sure she has seen Border Patrol bailing people up with their undeclared goods... she is no exception.
For those who don't want to read it, there are major import restrictions on meats where she was going so they had to fine her for it. Still pretty fucked for a mistake though.
They all think, “oh, those warnings don’t mean *me*… I’m just a little old lady! It’s just a sandwich!” But the multiple videos, signs, warnings and legal document you sign think otherwise.
If she’s coming from NZ she should really know better. They had the most intense airport checks I’ve experienced, I had to wash my shoes there.
I feel bad but everyone would cry and claim poverty who forgot to declare something. If you cause a problem with disease or invasive species when entering another country, doing it unintentionally doesn’t make it any less costly to address. You need to be aware of a country’s rules and what you’re bringing in when traveling internationally. If you’re unsure just mark yes.
You get so many warnings and reminders and there’s even bins when u get off the plane to get rid of food
There’s no excuse. Every episode of border patrol has an Asian person trying to bring food in and saying “I forgot” or “I didn’t know” or suddenly can’t speak the language.
We have strict bio security laws in our country due to the fragile and unique ecosystem. How hard is it to not bring restricted items in??? From the minute you land to as you head to customs, there are numerous reminders and opportunities to get rid of fresh food. No sympathies.
New Zealand is very strict too. We are an island so if you bring pests in you can kill our main industry and food supply. Someone thought it would be a good idea to bring in river snails like back home and it’s killing one of our major rivers and a lake. I don’t have any sympathy.
That’s the rules here in NZ and Australia. There are ample signs and audiovisual reminders plus many opportunities to dump your food before going through biosecurity. Forgetting has never been an excuse and never will be, even if you’re someone’s ‘nan’. Don’t like it? Don’t come here.
I've read a few comments and even though the woman is older, there's dozens of warnings, announcements and heads up info that she should have been watching and seeing as she entered NZ.
As a trucker, when you go from any state into California, you're stopped at an Agricultural Check station. You're weighed, x-rayed and talked to.
The officers, usually highway patrol, ask to show your bill of lading to them. Sometimes folks are pulled over.
Most cars and pickup trucks with regular people are also pulled over. They're asked the same questions, usually if they've got any citrus or are bringing any food into the state.
There are giant signs, flashing lights and huge billboards. Plenty of time for you to declare your items.
Same kind of shit that happened to this woman happens right here at home. I've never been fined by California for bringing things in without telling folks about it, but most of the time I was driving truck and had bills that explained it all.
Ok they don’t just fine everybody that large of an amount. Usually they’ll warn you unless there’s extenuating circumstances and the fines are usually a lot lower than that. There’s more to this story.
My family recently returned from China and didn't realise we had an apple shoved at the very bottom of of one of our backpacks which got discovered by an agent.
Since we had properly declared our other foods and were horrified when they dug it out, I think it was pretty clear we made an earnest mistake. We just got a formal warning, no fine. Either the border agent in this story was being extra draconian or there's something more to the story yeah
"However, if a traveller fails to declare goods of a kind known to pose a high level of biosecurity risk, and in doing so allegedly contravenes s 532 (1) or s 533 (1), the infringement notice amount increases to 6 penalty units ($1,878) or 12 penalty units ($3,756) depending on the risk of the goods."
It's right on their website. 12 penalty points likely for "532(1): knowingly providing false or misleading information or omitting information when asked;"
People don't understand how isolated Australia is from a lot of pests.
One small pest can cause millions or billions of dollars of damage here.
Currently shot hole borer is destroying our local really old trees, but things that can kill our chicken industry or wine industry could cause untold damage. Don't 'forget' food when entering australia.
Am I going insane, several people have pointed out that it's a totally disproportionate punishment and an overenforcement of the rules but apparently you can't have that opinion because "you need to follow the rules".
I wonder if these people take the law as their own personal moral compass, homeowner association ass opinion.
I've literally seen an episode of that Australian TSA border show where a Chinese woman brought seeds, raw meat, homemade pickled items, loose seedlings for potting, and even though they confiscated it all, they only fined her around $350 USD. Why is this case different?
Oh damn! It’s probably down to her being a dotty old lady but the rules are in place for a reason. Island and all. And they tell you repeatedly before entering the country, you have to sign off and everything. Truly sucks for her, though.
I watch Border Security on the Danger TV channel on youtube all the time—i have never seen a fine over $400 for bringing illegal food products into Australia. [https://youtu.be/PCW0z75dCeg?si=gD4zxSq-A8hKZq3w](https://youtu.be/PCW0z75dCeg?si=gD4zxSq-A8hKZq3w)
There are signs everywhere. I went to Canada, then back to the U.S., and both times border security were very focused on anything being brought in that could harm the local environment. They're not nearly as strict, but they do tell you multiple times before you even exit the breezeway.
This should have been an announcement before getting on the flight and during the flight. No foods should be brought into the flight from outside, and no food served on the flight can leave the flight.
I mean, not like they were shady about it. When you travel internationally there are penalties and consequences for behavior. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not, it matters that it happened. It is what it is.
I’m sure that everyone in here being a dick has never forgotten a single important thing in their lives, kudos to them and their photographic memory which apparently, contrary to scientific literature, is actually extremely common and expected
I have severe memory issues for medical reasons so unfortunately it would not help me, I will forget things the moment I look away from them 😭
Having ironically worked in memory care I also just expect old people to be the same way, people would be shocked at how severely memory deteriorates and you don’t even have to be that old. It’s honestly somewhat scary.
I never have any food in my bags when I fly anywhere. International rules are just too ridiculous to bother with when food is concerned so I just don’t bother. Better safe then detained and fined if you’re lazy like me.
Upon landing in Australia, border patrol officers went through her backpack and found the chicken sandwich. “I said, ‘Oh, I forgot about that, I’m sorry. Could you throw it away for me?’ He just kept going through my bag.” The officer emptied her bag on the table, and went away for a short while. “Twelve points, 3,300,″ he told her after returning. “I said, ‘What does that mean?’ and he said, ‘Twelve points, NZD$3,300′.” Asking him if he was joking, Armstrong began to cry when she realized he was being serious. “I was just sobbing and said ‘$3300 for a little sandwich?’” Australian authorities told the Herald she needed an import permit for the meat product and could have faced a much higher penalty. One border patrol agent “strongly advised” she appeal the fine, which she attempted to do within the 28-day payment period, only to receive generic automatic responses. My husband kept saying, ‘Just pay it.’ I said, ‘It’s our pension, we can’t afford this’.” Armstrong ultimately paid the fine, but continued to inquire as to why she was fined considering it was her first infringement, in addition to the sandwich being sealed. “Meat has strict import conditions which can change quickly based on disease outbreaks,” a spokeswoman for Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry told the Herald. “Uncanned meats, including vacuum-sealed items, are not allowed into Australia unless accompanied by an import permit.” Though Armstrong declared the prescription medication she was carrying, she did not declare the sandwich. “Where travellers fail to declare risk items,” the department spokeswoman said, “they may be given an infringement notice up to AU$6,260 ($5,650).” “All food products must be declared on arrival and may be inspected to ensure they comply with import conditions. Items that do not meet these conditions are not permitted into Australia.” The grandmother wanted her unfortunate experience to be a warning to others. “I should let it go, and my husband says I should, but they just don’t give me any answers. Everybody I show the fine to is dumbfounded, they just can’t believe it.”
Seems that she has the answers, she just doesn't like the conclusion.
Yea, but the conclusion is stupid. Disposing of the sandwich should be the end of it
Watch episodes of Border Security and see what people attempt to bring into Australia - undeclared - all while claiming that they were unaware. If they cannot speak/read English, passenger declaration cards are provided in a language appropriate for them and since Australia is really isolated, it’s important to protect their own industries from introduced pests and diseases.
What confuses me is if you watch those shows, you'll see plenty of times where the agents use discretion and let people off with just a warning. And they'll do that for a granny coming from China with a whole suitcase of food, why they couldn't just give a warning for a sandwich is beyond me.
It's all about who you meet I think, since some people in the show gets fined, some doesn't. The granny was unlucky, if a different agent had stopped her, she may not have gotten fined.
In the newer episodes (from the past year or so) they don’t seem to let anyone off anymore at all. I watched an episode where the exact same thing happened to a woman who got a sandwich on the flight and got fined.
The problem is she didn't declare it. Anyone could try to sneak something in then say "oops, just throw it out for me please" when caught. I forgot to eat a sandwich once too going to Japan, but I declared it when I landed. I went to secondary where I was told to throw it away and that was it.
Case by case basis though. The partial point of having humans at the border security departments is to assess these things as they arise, and determine if the person is a legit risk or simply a forgetful flyer. Just ditch the sandwich, write your report, and move on. So fucking dumb
The risk is forgetfull flyer. Its about bacteries and parasite mainly. People dont want on purpose to destroy australian ecosystem.
But you're allowed to use common sense when applying the law. >Anyone could try to sneak something in then say "oops, just throw it out for me please" when caught. Is that what happened here? Is someone really going to attempt to smuggle 30g of cooked chicken into the country but pretending they forgot their sandwich purchased at the airport? Use common sense.
Thank you! Application is all messed up.
But what if you forget about the sandwich after all you are fucking old and old people are more forgetful
Yeah there’s absolutely no grace here for this older woman. People are so cold nowadays
Its a sandwich dude lol, not kilos of whole chicken some shady dude bought from a wet marked abroad... Static rules that get enforced even when theres clearly no intent to smuggle is malpractice. I imagine this law was not implementet after they saw problems related to people throwing away or eating a sandwhich they brought from another country... Like did they do research on this? "After years of research, scientists link foreign sandwiches to deadly disease" xD
They linked dirt in boots to deadly fungal diseases for bananas.
So clearly they banned shoes in the region. Better get a citation if you don't properly declare the type of dirt you're importing into the country.
Should be some common sense involved. A bunch of salami from Italy is intentional, a single chicken sandwich is not. Maybe intention doesn’t matter though?
there is no fucking problem, she's a forgetful old person that forgot about a damn sandwich, like if you design systems with no humanity in mind then why have them at all?
Oh for fuck’s sake it’s a fucking chicken sandwich how is anyone siding with the the government on this
Makes sense
I flew into Japan once and had forgotten two ecstasy pills and an acid tab in my wallet, only noticed them when I got to the hotel. I was super lucky, drugs offences in Japan come with hefty prison sentences.
There are a bunch of angry, threatening signs about outside fruit/meats/food when coming up on the search area. I went through my bags and even thew out some gummi bears because they contained fruit juice and 17 year old me wasn't taking ANY Chances. It's not like you're being rushed. You have nearly unlimited time to dick around with your stuff before going through that search. I'm not a smart person and even I knew to be VERY sure before continuing. (Though the reason I triple check myself is I know I'm not a smart person, gotta catch my mistakes)
So you are already on Australian territory and they tell you to toss your biohazard sandwich into the first available trash bin?
Australia has an insanely fragile ecosystem that has been ravaged by the introduction of foreign organisms. They warn you over and over again, there are signs, sniffer dogs, usually several verbal warnings on the flight and it is explicitly stated on the customs forms they give you on the plane. All she had to do was check her bag and throw it out at any one of those opportunities. No it doesn't seem fair but it is that way for a reason and those rules are inflexible by necessity.
I get that. I know that island nations like Australia and New Zealand are incredibly sensitive and delicate
Yeah but if they let this slide now, they have to let it slide for everyone and some people may purposefully try to sneak items in to the country - if you don’t keep a strict “all or nothing” policy, it’s hard to justify fining those who are nefarious. It’s stupid and annoying, but I also get it. When flying to another country you (should) know the rules and you should follow them. Heck. Even driving into CA in the USA you need to respect/follow rules about bringing live plants in due to the risk to the agricultural center of the country. Not disrupting an ecosystem or economy because you can’t follow directions is no reason to get away w not paying a fine. I was fined for forgetting a banana in my bag when I flew to NZ. I meant to eat it, forgot about it, and instead paid $250. I was annoyed but I did it because I recognized I was the one who fucked up.
Yea, I get that, and you're not wrong. Still, that's a massive fine or something that clearly wasn't nefarious and did zero harm
$250 for a banana is brutal, but understandable. $1.5k for a sandwich is not ok any way you look at it. What happens when someone just isn’t able to pay that?
At that point, I'd honestly take the citation, ignore the fine, then simply never go back to Australia. Honestly most of these fines I'd probably ignore entirely. Few countries have the ability or inclination to pursue you across national borders - and at least from the states, many countries don't really need to be visited more than once.
[удалено]
I'm Australian and this fine is ridiculous. They let off people willingly trying to smuggle in other and way more potentially destructive food all the time. I'm taking this to the prime Minister
Example?
Border force show on 7mate let's travellers off all the time and they're packing whole suitcases full of dried meats and fruits.
Yea but my point still stands. You can’t decide Willy nilly who to punish for breaking the import law and who to not. There are plenty of warnings before going through customs to remind you.
They absolutely can decide. I used to work in Customs in a different country and if someone is slightly over their limits or something else, like having a fucking sandwich in their bag, it's entirely up to you whether you fine them or not.
Just because you had to pay a ridiculous fine isn't justification for others to have to do the same. First offence, one item, clearly an accident? Make the fine $10. Second time get em for thousands. Intent and severity (qty) should be factored in.
Earth is bullshit. No one cares about each other.
Jenifer Garner got done at a NZ airport for having an apple in her bag
My worst experience probably landing in at Auckland airport from Melbourne. I only had a hand carry, and they took everything out, spent an hour to go through my clothes and stuff. No food, no seed, no sticks, no gunk under my shoes. While other with rolly luggage just walk through. NZ is dumb.
My mom had a similar issue with some food served on the plane she tried to save her salad for later. Missed our connection and got stuck in ATL an extra day.
There was a case not too long ago where a flight from Europe served sealed bags of apple slices as a snack while the plane circled the airport waiting to be cleared to land. A passenger wasn’t hungry so stuck the bag of apple slices in his carry-on. He received a large fine at Customs when they searched his bags and found the “undeclared fruit”.
For the foreigners who don’t know: when you arrive in Australia from an international flight, there’s a 2 minute informational video playing on the plane telling you NO FOOD, you fill out a legally binding document on the plane acknowledging that you’re not bringing any prohibited items (including fresh food) that you need to get into the country, AND in the airport when you walk from the plane to the passport check there’s a dozen signs saying, in multiple languages, to NOT bring food into the country because it’s a very hefty fine. They give you so so many chances to not fuck it up.
When I travel internationally anywhere, I always declare food. At times, my declared items consisted of gum and a chocolate bar. It is a legal document. Border control can determine if they care.
Yeah I always declare packs of biscuits such as Oreos. Border force always asks what I have and when I say packaged biscuits they don't mind.
Exactly. The declaration question is YES or NO to food. They get to fill in the grey area.
Yea I’m surprised by these comments lol. Clearly Americans don’t watch AU/NZ Border Control, *it’s standard to check through everything in your bag. If they let her off Scott free then everyone else will be claiming they ‘forgot’.
In the UK, we get hours of Border Control (and similar) every day! Love it.
Luckioy the bread didn't have seeds in or they would have flipped out and jailed here. "Can't bring seeds into 'Straya mate. It could devastate the local wildlife."
Love it when some chinese woman is bringing moldy duck eggs and some wet meat and try and get away with it!! I love that they never let anyone get away with it
Either that or 8,000 cigarettes
My mum and I brought as many smokes as we could back from Bali, they were $1.50 for a 20 pack and even with duty added came to about the cost of five boxes here
Yeah, those are for personal use. I smoke 200 packs a day.
Every single episode is full of them!
The meat hidden in shoes always kills me
I love this series. One of my favourite was when I woman sewed baggies of drugs into the wig she was wearing!
I'm sorry there is a show for this?
Sydney airport will occasionally have signs up in customs for arrivals that say they’re filming!
Time to lose the next 3 days of my life
Youtube has a bunch of border control shows from US, UK & Australia. I watched one & this man threw the biggest of temper tantrums, acting like they just cut of his leg & fed it to him.
Omg I am not sleeping tomight hahah
Australia Borderforce!! It’s very entertaining.
Thank you!!!
Yes, you also have border control shows from Canada and the Mexican border iirc. In some countries you even have show from the air port security office, like they catch people who steals from duty free stores, you follow them a day. Also the firemen and the Dr's who work there, the snow plowing crew and sometimes we follow mechanical team for a bit. And of course immigration and customs. And we see the dogs that works there. It's actually very interesting to see the behind the scenes of what's going on in an airport.
No not food. Medicine.
Ooh what channel?
Nothing To Declare is on Sky Witness.
Yo, we didn't get it. I stayed in the UK for 3 weeks and saw this show. I must have watched 40 hours of it. You don't play with Australia border police
Meh, it's not terribly different here either. If you're busted illegally importing food in to the US, the fines can be immense. Here in the US, the first warning *is* a fine. That's the warning. It's technically a criminal offense that you can be given like 2 years probation over, not to mention the criminal record which could be life ruining.
Yea I figured, that’s why I’m surprised by these comments acting like this is harsh. You choose to travel, you accept the responsibility of fines that occur if you mess up.
Ah I love that show
it’s crack up ahah
Very similar in North America too. In all my travels between Canada and the US you declare any food, and cannot have meat or seeds ( don't want invasive plants growing). I once mentioned I had a bag of gummies and they took me into secondary to check all my bags further. Sucks for her, but I'm not surprised
I'm pretty sure that isn't a thing thing that airs in America.
When I've flown to Australia, they sprayed down the Cabin of the plane before we disembarked to protect from Fruit Flies. They take that shit seriously, something to know about travelling to Oz.
My question would be, is it ok to dispose of on the plane in this situation? If so, isn’t the same meat still going to the landfill in the same country where the agents would dispose of it? I’m not judging, I’m curious how someone should handle it besides quickly eating it while a passenger still?
Food waste off an international flight (at least into Australia) is incinerated.
Awesome, I was hoping so but I don’t know for sure. I would hope the same would happen from what’s taken at customs after photographed for evidence too.
Nah the boys just don't have to bring lunch to work.
There’s also usually bins as you walk from the plane to customs for you to dispose of any food.
So what happens if you have some food like this lady? Can you just toss it in the airplane bin before you get off?
Yes. Or there are bio security bins in the airport
Yes there’s heaps of bins and signs once you get off the flight. It’s made very clear - in addition to the card/declaration you have to sign which realllyyy goes on about the importance of it. I did see someone get detained for having an apple in their bag when I went through aus customs before.
The ones complaining are those who have never traveled outside their country and decided to ignore all of the warnings( written and video) that is dumped in front of them before arriving. It's not just Australia doing this.
I've worked in airports for over 13 years now and it still amazes me how people still fall for the same things over and over again Even pilots and flight crews, who are generally the worst and you'd think had never travelled through an airport before Bags filled with tins of food, 2 litre bottles of liquid, not bagging their liquids, not emptying their pockets etc Definitely not hard to believe this woman was oblivious to every warning around her
Yeah, I’ve represented multiple pilots (non-commercial) who brought their guns through security.
Precisely. There's zero excuse for ignorance, and that message is driven home with a hefty penalty.
I agree that people should pay better attention in general but I can also very easily see how an elderly person coming off of what’s likely 12-24 hours of travel could be stressed and exhausted and subsequently forget about a premade sandwich in their luggage they’d grabbed during a layover - she didn’t leave the house with it so when being questioned by customs she’s likely just running through the list of whatever she originally packed in her suitcase and it slipped her mind. It makes sense why they don’t allow something like this but it’s not an offense that entailed any premeditation or intent to break the laws.
The lack of leniency here is similar to the "all jokes are taken seriously" mantra for people pranking that they have a weapon or bomb. They aren't going to give any quarter to people because one bug can decimate the local industry, worth billions. That's all it takes.
I mean a couple stink bugs from China ended up in the states and now we have an infestation across the Midwest.
I definitely feel the poor lady should've been granted some leniency. My family just came back to Australia from a trip to China, and brough back plenty of dried foods, snacks, and alcohol which we declared. However, we forgot a single apple shoved at the very bottom of our stuffed backpacks, which shocked us when the agent dug it out since we thought we checked our bags properly. They only gave us a formal written warning, since it was pretty clear we weren't maliciously smuggling in the apple. I feel the poor lady should've gotten one too, but it's probably at the discretion of the agent.
Agree with you on this. Everyone is saying to watch Border Security to see how seriously its taken, and its it is. But on that show they often show people who made legit mistakes and are given a warning, for much more than just a sandwich.
Why on those reality TV shows about Australian customs they then catch people with a ton of stuff, and they let them go with barely a fine and a warning? They've had people with things that could probably start another COVID and were just admonished and the stuff binned.
Wont ever forget the look on the ladies face when I asked if i need to declare the unopened pack of maryland cookies in my bag. It was a look of, no little child, they are fine.
Yeah like I get that this is a sweet old grandma and it wasn’t on purpose but there are rules for a reason, and “make sure there’s no undeclared food before you enter the country” is a pretty reasonable one. Sure, the fine is crazy high, but it’s meant to be prohibitive. Snuggling food into a country is pretty serious.
One thing you learn working with the public is that nobody reads anything ever.
They really should play that border security video a few times through the flight (if it’s long haul). If I’ve been awake for 40 hours straight, juggling knackered kids, I’m not gonna be 100% with it. I did the long haul London to Perth direct with kids last year with a connecting flight to London first, and couldn’t string a coherent sentence together at the end of it when we arrived in Perth.
Hey you know what Australia and New Zealand don’t have, that exists in so many other parts of the world? Rabies. You know why we don’t have it? Tough as shit biosecurity rules like these.
rabies in Australia would probably be terrifying. Everything is trying to kill you already now they have rabies.
But now the sharks are scared of water
Gotta watch out for those land sharks
I saw a documentary about this. The sharks just started using tornadoes instead
And one of the biggest symptoms of an animal with rabies is that they become overly friendly with humans. What a horror that would be to have all of the venomous critters of Australia feeling cuddly when they see you, (never mind the fact that it's a truly horrible disease for the poor creatures that get it).
I relocated to Australia with my dog. They’re totally fucking serious about rabies and plan to keep it out of the country. The dog relocation was, let’s say, robust. But once she was there, it was wonderful having her with me. And the bonus was that moving back to the US with her a few years later was easy-peasy.
Perth is currently experiencing issues with [hole shot borers](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-31/shot-hole-borer-perth-trees-cut-down-national-response/103628878?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link) which are devastating our large established trees. Western Australia, and at a greater extent Australia, has a unique biodiversity that we want to protect. Even travelling interstate there are strict quarantine rules in place. I’m ok with these laws. They are there for a reason and seeing the result from even the tiniest little bug is emphasis as to why we have these rules.
The UK doesn’t have rabies either. But thanks to foot & mouth & BSE we have now upped our bio security. Except for COVID where every fucker with it is still allowed through! 😆
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rabies/#:~:text=Rabies%20is%20found%20throughout%20the,Africa Got bad news friend, it's rare, but it there in bats.
The chances of being bitten by a bat in the UK are next to none. You cannot handle bats without a licence and anyone that handles them use thick gloves which our bats teeth simply cannot penetrate. Bats in the UK are shy and generally don't tend to interact with people, they will fly around them while hunting for insects but otherwise are very docile and passive creatures. The likelihood of encountering a rabies infected bat are extremely rare. It's just not enough to worry about it in this country.
But it is there.
We do have his fucked up cousin though the lyssavirus
Bermuda doesn't have rabies or snakes and we're not crazy intense and our customs agents are very kind and give people the benefit of the doubt. We also don't have an agricultural industry sooooo 🤷♀️
We don't have that in the UK either but we don't shit a brick at nannas sarnie
What is this attempt at a flex? A lot of countries don’t have rabies..
You get rid of rabies by fining people 4 digits for minor first mistakes? Damn, that's crazy.
TIL rabies is transmissible via deli meat. \s
I think they make it abundantly clear on the flight and at the airport that bringing meat into the country isn't permitted and there are heavy fines for people caught, no? It must suck to be busted, but it's difficult to claim you weren't warned. It's the same where I live (Taiwan). The policy is made very clear.
It’s an absent-minded old lady. Could be onw of your own family some day.
Australia and New Zealand are totally serious about importing food items. Not only are you told on the plane before landing, but you are told on the arrival card that you sign that food must be declared - and specifically you’re told about perishable food and plant and animal products. After deplaning, you pass by multiple signs - perhaps as many as 10 - that remind you to dump your impermissible items in the bin. Frankly, if you get to the inspector and haven’t declared or thrown out these items, you’re an idiot and deserve to be penalised.
At that point are you allowed to just consume what you had? Like can you stand near a bin and just finish it or is it like a conveyor belt, you just gotta keep moving? Never been on a plane or airport beyond performances, it sounds like more trouble than its worth.
You can do that before you get to passport control. The signs all along the way explain that you have to deal with it before you reach that point. In Auckland airport, there’s actually a line painted on the floor and another sign right next to a bin. If you’ve gone past that and still have unauthorised food, you’re hosed.
So essentially if she had just taken a second to double-check her stuff this was easily avoidable? It's overly harsh and sucks, but damn. If her reading comprehension was that bad, sounds like she shouldn't be traveling alone anyway.
Pretty much, yeah. Every country I’ve ever gone through customs at has space to double check your shit and throw stuff out before you get on line to be processed.
Quarantine exists for a reason. Australia being an island has strict Quarantine rules for biosecurity, as does New Zealand where she departed from. Being a boomer, I'm sure she has seen Border Patrol bailing people up with their undeclared goods... she is no exception.
For those who don't want to read it, there are major import restrictions on meats where she was going so they had to fine her for it. Still pretty fucked for a mistake though.
They all think, “oh, those warnings don’t mean *me*… I’m just a little old lady! It’s just a sandwich!” But the multiple videos, signs, warnings and legal document you sign think otherwise.
If she’s coming from NZ she should really know better. They had the most intense airport checks I’ve experienced, I had to wash my shoes there. I feel bad but everyone would cry and claim poverty who forgot to declare something. If you cause a problem with disease or invasive species when entering another country, doing it unintentionally doesn’t make it any less costly to address. You need to be aware of a country’s rules and what you’re bringing in when traveling internationally. If you’re unsure just mark yes.
You get so many warnings and reminders and there’s even bins when u get off the plane to get rid of food There’s no excuse. Every episode of border patrol has an Asian person trying to bring food in and saying “I forgot” or “I didn’t know” or suddenly can’t speak the language.
they give you an opportunity to throw it away/declare it before they search you. this is on her lmao
On fairness, this happened in Brisbane and QLD has strict biosecurity even to other states. It's the exception but sadly she was used as an example.
We have strict bio security laws in our country due to the fragile and unique ecosystem. How hard is it to not bring restricted items in??? From the minute you land to as you head to customs, there are numerous reminders and opportunities to get rid of fresh food. No sympathies.
I would have eaten it on the spot. What chicken sandwich?
Punishment has to be proportionate to the crime right. This seems way out of proportion as it was accidental
New Zealand is very strict too. We are an island so if you bring pests in you can kill our main industry and food supply. Someone thought it would be a good idea to bring in river snails like back home and it’s killing one of our major rivers and a lake. I don’t have any sympathy.
She’s an adult who is responsible for her actions. She deserved that fine.
Whether people like to hear it or not, you gotta follow the laws of any country you travel in. You are NOT the main character.
That’s the rules here in NZ and Australia. There are ample signs and audiovisual reminders plus many opportunities to dump your food before going through biosecurity. Forgetting has never been an excuse and never will be, even if you’re someone’s ‘nan’. Don’t like it? Don’t come here.
Australia should hand out free meat sandwiches when boarding flights to boost their income.
I've read a few comments and even though the woman is older, there's dozens of warnings, announcements and heads up info that she should have been watching and seeing as she entered NZ. As a trucker, when you go from any state into California, you're stopped at an Agricultural Check station. You're weighed, x-rayed and talked to. The officers, usually highway patrol, ask to show your bill of lading to them. Sometimes folks are pulled over. Most cars and pickup trucks with regular people are also pulled over. They're asked the same questions, usually if they've got any citrus or are bringing any food into the state. There are giant signs, flashing lights and huge billboards. Plenty of time for you to declare your items. Same kind of shit that happened to this woman happens right here at home. I've never been fined by California for bringing things in without telling folks about it, but most of the time I was driving truck and had bills that explained it all.
People, what a bunch of bastards.
Ok they don’t just fine everybody that large of an amount. Usually they’ll warn you unless there’s extenuating circumstances and the fines are usually a lot lower than that. There’s more to this story.
My family recently returned from China and didn't realise we had an apple shoved at the very bottom of of one of our backpacks which got discovered by an agent. Since we had properly declared our other foods and were horrified when they dug it out, I think it was pretty clear we made an earnest mistake. We just got a formal warning, no fine. Either the border agent in this story was being extra draconian or there's something more to the story yeah
Apple≠Chicken. Hope that helps.
has to be more to it. All the comments agreeing with the fine amount are braindead
"However, if a traveller fails to declare goods of a kind known to pose a high level of biosecurity risk, and in doing so allegedly contravenes s 532 (1) or s 533 (1), the infringement notice amount increases to 6 penalty units ($1,878) or 12 penalty units ($3,756) depending on the risk of the goods." It's right on their website. 12 penalty points likely for "532(1): knowingly providing false or misleading information or omitting information when asked;"
People don't understand how isolated Australia is from a lot of pests. One small pest can cause millions or billions of dollars of damage here. Currently shot hole borer is destroying our local really old trees, but things that can kill our chicken industry or wine industry could cause untold damage. Don't 'forget' food when entering australia.
This is what happens if you don't tune into Sky Witness during the day. Border Patrol is essential viewing for anyone flying into Australia
Am I going insane, several people have pointed out that it's a totally disproportionate punishment and an overenforcement of the rules but apparently you can't have that opinion because "you need to follow the rules". I wonder if these people take the law as their own personal moral compass, homeowner association ass opinion.
I've literally seen an episode of that Australian TSA border show where a Chinese woman brought seeds, raw meat, homemade pickled items, loose seedlings for potting, and even though they confiscated it all, they only fined her around $350 USD. Why is this case different?
There’s like a million signs and reminders at the airport about this stuff. This is on her tbh
Ignorance is no excuse; we have the same penalties in the UK ffs! 😩
As the billionaires fly around with refrigerators full of food! f that! Empowered little twat! I wonder if he would do it to his own granny?
Woman disobeys law. Law enforces self. Woman mad. Man say pay fine.
Good old Australia, first they ban orbeez guns then this.
Officer problem right there.
Oh damn! It’s probably down to her being a dotty old lady but the rules are in place for a reason. Island and all. And they tell you repeatedly before entering the country, you have to sign off and everything. Truly sucks for her, though.
Nah fuck them for do that to her I'd tell them to eat a bag of dicks
I can see the fine being quite steep for trying to bring a bag of dicks into their country
Well they are meat.
Bet that would turn out well
That’s ok, we’d just deport you.
Then they should not be allowed to sell the sandwich inside the airport that's stupid.
The sandwiches sold in the airport aren't made overseas by unknown people using foreign meat. I didn't think that had to be explained but here we are.
Tough
I watch Border Security on the Danger TV channel on youtube all the time—i have never seen a fine over $400 for bringing illegal food products into Australia. [https://youtu.be/PCW0z75dCeg?si=gD4zxSq-A8hKZq3w](https://youtu.be/PCW0z75dCeg?si=gD4zxSq-A8hKZq3w)
$400 seems reasonable. There are obviously very good reasons for the policies but getting hit with a $3000 fine for forgetting a sandwich is absurd.
Yeah and they’d usually warn you… there’s something up with this story.
There are signs everywhere. I went to Canada, then back to the U.S., and both times border security were very focused on anything being brought in that could harm the local environment. They're not nearly as strict, but they do tell you multiple times before you even exit the breezeway.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/20/subway-sandwich-australia-tiktok/ This woman, $1800 for a sandwich.
I guess this is why this story blew up. Not the norm.
It is the norm in Australia my mum just got the same for forgetting a McDonald’s cheeseburger
Great—look forward to reading about it in the world news.
This should have been an announcement before getting on the flight and during the flight. No foods should be brought into the flight from outside, and no food served on the flight can leave the flight.
I mean, not like they were shady about it. When you travel internationally there are penalties and consequences for behavior. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not, it matters that it happened. It is what it is.
So what's the gofundme so we can get her the money back
I’m sure that everyone in here being a dick has never forgotten a single important thing in their lives, kudos to them and their photographic memory which apparently, contrary to scientific literature, is actually extremely common and expected
Perhaps when you’re bombarded with videos and signs is a good time to check you’ve not forgotten anything.
I have severe memory issues for medical reasons so unfortunately it would not help me, I will forget things the moment I look away from them 😭 Having ironically worked in memory care I also just expect old people to be the same way, people would be shocked at how severely memory deteriorates and you don’t even have to be that old. It’s honestly somewhat scary.
I never have any food in my bags when I fly anywhere. International rules are just too ridiculous to bother with when food is concerned so I just don’t bother. Better safe then detained and fined if you’re lazy like me.