food restrictions into USA

On Sep 12, 10:25 am, "James Silverton"
wrote:
y_p_w wrote on Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:08:45 -0700:

yw I was traveling with my folks to Australia and back about
yw 15 years ago. A friend of my dad's gave a present of raw
yw abalone; we stored it in paper napkins and a plastic bag
yw unrefrigerated during the flight. I figured it was better
yw to just declare it and let them destroy it, rather than
yw risk a fine for not declaring it. In the end, the customs
yw agent (L.A. airport) looked at it, said raw shellfish is OK
yw and let us keep it. I don't know if this is still the
yw case, but I don't think there's much worry about spreading
yw disease from sal****er organisms.
yw We cooked it thoroughly and it was OK to eat even without
yw refrigeration for a couple of days.

You are definitely braver than me and still alive to tell the
tale :-)

The fact is that thoroughly cooking any meat product will destroy any
living microorganisms. Even if there's food poisoning, high heat is
enough to break down the toxins.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/disea...%20prevent ed

"Because the botulism toxin is destroyed by high temperatures, persons
who eat home-canned foods should consider boiling the food for 10
minutes before eating it to ensure safety."

10 minutes is probably conservative. Government agencies tend to
overstate certain risks. The worst thing that could happen after
thorough cooking is that the meat/fish/shellfish/etc has turned rancid
and tastes terrible.