Buying Parmigiano and prosciutto to take home

The US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) sets the rules for travelers. Its pages were last modified on January 13, 2026.

• Cheese: "Solid hard or soft cheeses (as long as the cheese does not contain meat or pour like a liquid such as ricotta or cottage cheese)" may enter from any country. Parmigiano qualifies at any age.
• Cured pork: "Cured hams (prosciutto, Serrano ham, Iberian ham) and salami from areas within France, Germany, Italy and Spain may not be brought into the United States by travelers." They may only enter as commercial shipments with extra certification. That covers Prosciutto di Parma, culatello, coppa and salame di Felino.
• By mail: APHIS says items sent by mail are regulated as commercial, not personal. Posting a ham home from Parma is not a way round the rule.
• Declare everything. APHIS: travelers "must declare all agricultural or wildlife products". It adds that if you declare them, you face no penalty even when an inspector refuses entry. It recommends keeping receipts and original packaging as proof of origin.

The only meat exception is commercially packed, cooked, shelf-stable meat in sealed containers, which is not what a Parma deli sells.

GOV.UK's guide "Bringing food into Great Britain" lists what you cannot bring from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, "because of recent and ongoing animal disease outbreaks in the EU":

• "cheese, milk and dairy products like butter and yoghurt"
• pork, beef, lamb, mutton, goat and venison, and "other products made from these meats, for example sausages"

There is no exception for vacuum packs or shop labels. Fish, poultry, eggs and honey are allowed. If you declare banned food, Border Force takes it and destroys it. If you do not, GOV.UK says you could be fined up to £5,000 in England or prosecuted. Northern Ireland has separate rules. In short: if you live in Britain, eat your Parmigiano in Parma.

The EU's Your Europe portal says that within the EU "you can carry meat or dairy products with you as long as they are for your own personal consumption", and that the same applies to food you order online or have sent by post. The zone includes Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The warning: local animal-disease outbreaks can bring temporary limits, so check before you fly.

For Canada, Australia and other countries, check your own government's rules before you buy; we have not verified them. Whatever the country, declare food on arrival.

Buy Parmigiano at a dairy. You see where it was made, you can taste ages side by side, and the prices are published. Caseificio Ugolotti, Via Emilio Lepido 72, is inside Parma's city limits, 4.8 km from Piazza Garibaldi, and its shop opens Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (also Sundays in December). Its online prices on September 29, 2026:

Small pieces cost far more per kilo: the 250 g wedge works out at €36 per kg against €19.90 in a 1 kg piece. Buy the big piece and share it.

City delis around Piazza Garibaldi sell the same products, often sliced to order, but none we could reach publishes a price list, so we give no city figure. Compare per kilo on the label and ask for the age. Most dairy visitors buy at the dairy shop; if you are on a dairy morning, that is the time.

• Age: the minimum is 12 months. For eating in pieces, our Parmigiano page recommends 24 or 30 months: €22.90 to €23.90 per kg at Ugolotti, a small step up from 12 months. 36 months and older is drier and more crystalline, and dearer.
• Label: the Consortium requires pre-packed pieces to state the minimum age. The fire brand goes on the wheel at 12 months, and the dotted Parmigiano Reggiano lettering on the rind is the mark to look for on a cut piece.
• Prosciutto, for EU travelers: genuine Prosciutto di Parma is pork and sea salt only, aged at least 14 months under the rules in force since May 2025, and carries the ducal crown brand. Pre-sliced packs are sliced inside the production zone.

• Ask for sottovuoto, vacuum packing. Dairy shops do it as a matter of course. The Consortium puts the shelf life of vacuum-packed Parmigiano at about six months.
• Keep it cool on the day you buy it, especially in a car in summer. Bring a cool bag to the dairy.
• Keep the receipt and the label. APHIS asks for proof of origin; the dairy's receipt and the printed label are exactly that.
• Declare it on arrival in the US. Declared cheese that meets the rules goes home with you.
• Do not hide a pack of prosciutto in the cheese. APHIS and Border Force both treat undeclared banned products as the offense.

At the Festival del Prosciutto or a Caseifici Aperti weekend, the temptation to buy a whole leg is strong. Unless you live in the EU, eat it here: a plate costs €11 at Trattoria del Tribunale.

Parma: Prosciutto di Parma Tour

Starts 2 p.m. at the NH Parma hotel. Max 8. Not for vegetarians. Pairs with a morning dairy visit on the same day.

2.5 hours

4.6★★★★★★★★★★(64 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.