Carry museli bars around south america

[lorri111]

Looking for advice on whether there would be a problem taking packaged unopened muesli bars into Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruquay via a cruise around South America. I know live food is always a no-no but hoping not to have problems with snack bars while on shore excursions.

[DanL]

We always take protein bars with us but mostly use on trip down or back. We rarely use on the cruise.

Of note HAL on recent cruise (in Europe) had sandwiches to go for tours so apparently not all "live food" is prohibited. 

[Lunenburg]

Chile is especially fussy about what you can bring in.  We stopped there for three hours on our trip to Uruguay  - only in the airport - we had our dog with us.  They confiscated all her food including canned dog food even though we were not leaving the airport. 

Anything like seeds, fruit, nuts etc. must be declared and may or may not be confiscated. 

https://pepeschile.com/how-to-avoid-getting-fined-for-what-you-bring-to-chile/

[Greg4502]

I can remember which port it was, but they were checking bags as we got off the ship. On my last cruise to Panama Canal, one of the ports they had a dog sniffing backpacks for food.

[alcpa1]

If you are arriving in Santiago just declare your factory wrapped snacks when you pass through Customs and Immigration. The goods may be inspected (not opened.) 

I've only been on the west coast of South America and other than being proactive in Santiago I had no problem in any port.

[clo]

On 5/23/2019 at 6:27 AM, Lunenburg said:

Chile is especially fussy about what you can bring in.  We stopped there for three hours on our trip to Uruguay  - only in the airport - we had our dog with us.  They confiscated all her food including canned dog food even though we were not leaving the airport. 

Anything like seeds, fruit, nuts etc. must be declared and may or may not be confiscated. 

https://pepeschile.com/how-to-avoid-getting-fined-for-what-you-bring-to-chile/

Yeah, Chile can be picky.  But tell the truth.  You might get something confiscated but don't lie.

[YoPhilly]

I have a funny story along these lines.  A friend and I traveled to the Peruvian Andes for 2 weeks to volunteer at an NGO.  She's a picky eater and packed half a suitcase with Nature Valley oatmeal granola bars.  At one point we were in a small grocery store in Ollantaytambo, and there on the shelves were the same green-packaged Nature Valley oatmeal granola bars. 😁

[Floridiana]

If there is an inspection - Chile, Peru - just show them your Musli bar.