TORONTO — Got your pre-trip done? Check. Checked the weather for your route? Done. Called your U.S. port of entry to see if your lunch meets United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) importation requirements? Huh???

It’s true. For the past couple of months, Canadian drivers have reported a spike in incidences where zealous U.S. border agents are inspecting — and often confiscating — personal lunches that the agents’ deem suspect, usually when the driver’s been flagged for secondary inspection.

Better hope Rex doesn’t like how your lunch smells. It might
give US Customs another excuse to confiscate your sandwich

So what constitutes a suspicious lunch? And what’s permissible according to the gourmands at the border?

“For the most part, food products manufactured in U.S. are allowed reentry,” says Mike Milne, a press officer with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency. “Commercially packaged products that are well labeled with country of origin are generally acceptable, as well. However, most things containing meat products are not admissible. Rice too. Some imported foods are also suspect. Bringing fruits and vegetables is also complicated — it depends where they came from. We don’t know what kinds of pests these products might be harboring. The agents are just doing their part to protect the U.S. agricultural industry.”

Milne suggests drivers go to the CBP or USDA website to check for updates on what’s allowed in your lunchbox, “or call the port of entry you’ll be using — it’s easy for someone to call ahead and say, ‘I’ve got a baloney sandwich, is that prohibited?'”

Chris Burger, a flatbed hauler with Bakke’s Trucking out of North Bay, Ont., says he’s never had his lunch inspected, though he knows a few colleagues who’ve had their beef sandwiches confiscated. He says he’s of two minds on the matter.

Lunch Money: CTA boss David Bradley calls
CBP’s focus on truckers’ food: ‘taking a cannon to a fruit fly.’

“In general, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. When they pull you in, they might as well do it all. I understand their concerns with beef, for example. For me it’s 50/50 — it’s all right, though it is a little overkill. U.S. Customs in general has to realize we’re not all bad guys.”

Kevin Satchell, a Calgary owner-operator with Kleysen Transport, says he’s had lunch run-ins with U.S. Customs during the whole mad cow affair a couple of years ago.

“I was forced a couple of times to throw out salami sandwiches,” he says. “My own personal food and God forbid it’s got any beef on it. It’s ridiculous, not to mention expensive — it’s not easy to afford to be stopping for meals all the time when you’re in the U.S., especially with the exchange rate. They take exception to an orange that probably originates from down there anyway.”

Canadian Trucking Alliance CEO David Bradley has also taken exception to the rise in lunch confiscations, telling media it’s like “taking a cannon to a fruit fly,” especially considering the extensive background checks truckers already face to get FAST cards.

However, the CBP’s Milne thinks all the fuss north of the border is “all out of proportion.”

“The majority of truck drivers don’t go through a secondary inspection,” he says. “We’re not targeting truck drivers lunches — we’re focusing on vehicles, drivers, and cargo. It’s a very small percentage of drivers that get flagged for secondary inspection, and most are because of paperwork with regards to their cargo. This has been blown out of proportion.”