It’s a fact of life that many UK food brands are hard to buy for in the US. While there are many wonderful food brands in the US, there are some popular products you’d find in a British grocery store that expats find they can’t buy in their new country of residence. Sometimes a familiar taste is more than a food craving and can bring back memories of the friends and family a person has left behind.
It is not surprising to learn that many people resort to importing their own food from their home countries, to get a taste of the familiar foods they have come to know and love.
Bovril is one of those foods that can be hard to find in the United States. After the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy/mad cow disease) outbreak, Bovril was banned in many countries due to its beef content. Bovril’s recipe was changed in 2004 to make it a vegetarian product; this did not prove as popular with many Bovril lovers, who complained that it tasted different, and the original recipe returned in 2006 after the European Commission lifted its ban on the export of beef products from Britain.
It has been rumored that Bovril is no longer allowed to be imported into the US and other countries due to its beef content. This is simply not true. As long as the exporter completes the correct paperwork, there is no risk of the item being stopped and seized by customs as a restricted product, and Bovril is perfectly legal to import from a British food store.
