Oh man, I sent off 4 care packages and in each I included a can of Spam.  There were magazines, shampoo, hand sanitizer, deodorant, magazines, jerky, powder dinks, popcorn, gum, DVD's, can of tuna in each, nuts, and foot powder.  I hope I don't get the whole thing sent back cause of the Spam??  I didn't even know Spam had pork, i thought it was meat.  I hope I don't get anyone in trouble???

You didn't send the deodorant and the foot powder with the food, I suppose?  Food and anything scented should be sent separately to avoid spoiling the taste of the food.  Did you list Spam on the customs form by name?  There is a turkey Spam.  Did you know that?  You have to look carefully at any type of meat product like meat sticks, vienna sausage, beans and franks, potted meat, etc.  Many of them now have chicken or turkey or beef, but you have to read them.  Can't tell you what will come of the packages, let's just have faith that they will arrive safely and won't offend anyone.  Even the US army has some people who don't eat pork.

Gran

 

No I didn't specifically mark Spam on the customs form.  I put the tolietry items in a ziplock baggie, the food items were in their own packaging so i don't think they would mix as far as smell,  I hope not.  The gum I sent i also put in ziplock baggies so the mint smell wouldn't get on everything. 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the sooner you hear it the better - plastic bags will not prevent odors from combining - especially in 100+ degree weather.  We put scented items in our garage in shopping bags or boxes to keep them until we pack them, and when we open the door to the garage even in the winter the smell almost knocks me down.  If you ever store any kind of toiletries in bathroom cabinets,the cabinets always have that smell.  The contacts ask that toiletries always be sent in separate boxes from food.

You might want to read the How To Send forum.  It might save you from making the same mistakes that we have already made.

Gran

great.  so the stuff will be all smelling wrong?  what a waste of money.  I spent easily over $100 buying the stuff and shipping it.  I re-read the contacts requests and there was nothing about sending food and toiletries separately, otherwise I would have packaged them in separate boxes.  DARN IT!!!!!!!! 

 Oops! In one of the first few  packages I sent, I think I may of had some toiletries in with the foods too. I did not get any actual complaints - but they were sent in the winter, not in the heat - and maybe the troops were just to polite to say anything anyway.

Now I make sure that the items are shipped seperately, and I will just store the toiletries until I get a full box to go out as they are less perishable  than snack foods. (I rely on "freebies" and "donations" from friends for a lot of toiletries in order to save money - see the threads in the free or great deals section of What to Send section of the forum).

I wonder sometimes about shipping snacks in the coffee boxes too, though, because it has such a strong smell. I wonder if all the food has a slight coffee taste to it by the time it is gets there. I have not got any feedback on that though as being a problem with my "guys" - and they love the coffee!  Coffee flavored brownies and granola bars actually could be pretty good - every once in a while I buy those Caribou granola bars - they make a great treat for breaktime at work!!

One day, I almost bought some ham and bean soup in those microwave cups before I realized that I could not mail them - so do not feel too bad about about the Spam. (If it makes it through customs unopened someone will probably enjoy it!)

I can not imagine living without pork for a whole year - it comes in second in our house to chicken as most consumed meat. There are however a lot of good turkey products that are not too bad in the grocery stores though, and even some vegetarian sausages that are fairly edible - especially if you put sauce of some kind on them.

 

By the way - wierd trivia fact - Bears can smell an unopened can of tuna from about 5 miles away!! No wonder they show up at picnics and campouts to raid the coolers!

I've sent Spam before and had no problems

Pam

Many people send anything they can get by with, but there are restrictions against sending pork to predominately Muslim countries, and if they want to do so, you can be banned from sending mail into those countries if they catch you doing so.  Some people even get away with murder, but there are laws against it.  We just have to decide whether we want to pay the price for going against the law.

Gran

Thanks Kathryn for the info.  My main concerns are the i don't get in trouble or get someone in trouble for the 1 can of spam in each box and then I HOPE the other stuff doesn't get the toiletries smells cause then all the snacks, nuts, protein bars, popcord, jerky, etc. will be a waste if they can't eat it.  Hopefully putting the stuff in ziplocks will help somewhat.  Now I know for the next shipment.  Thanks again...

Hi Magi! Welcome to the forums by the way! I feel for you girl, Ugg. The learning process. There are sooooo many things you are going to learn to do great though after a few packages and a read around the forums. Some costlier than others I'm afraid. I'll throw my 1 cent in on both parts for ya though.

1st on the Spam. Pork is prohibitted. Don't send anything with pork. It is in fact a bad thing to try to skirt that on purpose. That said, if a can of Spam already went in a package accidently, will it maybe make it. Probably.

Two, what you want to seperate is anything scented. Gran is correct that baggies won't stop it. Just imagine eating Irish Spring scented rice krispys. YUCK! You can taste the flavor. And the warmer weather exasperates that problem. With what you listed above, my best educated guess is that the canned foods will be ok cause it's not 140 degrees yet. (And maybe even then for all I know, but I wouldn't risk it.) The drink mix and popcorn .....well....... kinda depends on how hot it is where your contact is and how scented the shampoo and deoderant are. They may be ruined.

But I will tell you this, all of the hygiene items you sent will be greatly appreciated and uneffected by the food!! So you still did some real good even if part of the food gets perfumed :) And now if your Soldiers write, you have a funny story to tell! "I didn't really mean to send you Scope flavored drink mix!"

I usually alternate, one time I send a snack pack next time hygienes. You can put stuff like nail clippers, games, etc in with anything cause they don't smell.

Let us know if you hear anything :) And Yay! Great job on FOUR Soldiers feeling some love!!

Shelly

 

ps Ummm Kathryn!! HOW do you know that!?!

Hi magiano - welcome to the Forums.  everyone makes mistakes and there is so much to read!!!  You might want to check out the following thread from a while back - archived I assume - enter non-camper in the search box and it will bring up a post and thread that talks about and tells you about not mixing food and hygiene products in the same box.

Also,  to find out what can't be shipped to a contacts particular country, go to usps.com, click on postage rate calculator (top of page in dark red bar), then click on calc domestic postage (mil addys are domestic addys).

Enter weight - lbs and oz., your zip, their zip, check package and hit continue.  Bottom of page in red says something like APO/FPO restrictions.  Click on it.  VOILA.  Any restrictions for that zip.  You can print it out and keep it handy.  Pork is prohibited in most Islamic countries as are a number of other things.

Good Luck and Happy packing.

Ann

 Oh STL - the thing about the bears - when we took our son to Yellowstone we visited the bear and wolf center in West Yellowstone, WY and one of the people working there mentioned about bears being able to even smell sealed cans of food. Don't ask me how some wildlife researcher figured that one out!! (Off topic a bit - it is a really neat place to visit and probably the only chance you will get to see grizzlies or wolves at Yellowstone unless you really get into the back country! When I was a kid, I remember seeing the bears right along the road and in the campsites, and even saw people hand feeding them - really a pretty stupid thing to do. They got to be such an annoyance - the people that is, not the bears - that the park managers took steps to get the bears away from the people as much as possible. Personally I don't want to see a grizzly up close anyway in the wild - they are pretty dangerous creatures.)
 

     Off topic except for Yellowstone. My husband and I rode through the park a year ago on our motorcycles. I kept wanting to see a bear and my husband thought I was crazy.  Needless to say, on a bike that might not have been so good.

    Everyone's advice on what to send and how to send is great. I put on another thread that any liquid I send gets the lid taped shut before I put it in a ziplock bag.  I tape around it, over the top and around it again. I have never had anyone complain about spilling out. What a great thought on sending empty plastic bags.  I am sure they would be handy for someone.

    Have a great weekend and thank you to the troops we have posting and giving advice.  God bless you!!!    

There IS one type of Spam which can be sent -- the company makes a "turkey only" product, usually sold in exactly the same shelf area.  It has no pork in it.  Each year I usually send at least one package with several cans of that, along w/ cranberry jelly, microwaveable mashed potatoes (which need water only) and stove-top stuffing to a remote group for Thanksgiving.

Welcome Magiono ~ 

When I first started (a whole month ago!)  I found a lot of good info on the FAQ page and the How to Send tab.  Actually, all of the tabs up on the homepage are filled with great information that will answer many questions.

OK - this question is probably answered somewhere but here it is:

Almost all contacts want batteries.  They are potentially corosive.  I wondered if my packages are getting to the soldiers whole and unopened!

The same thing for requests for perfume, aerosol products, after shave?  Can we send these.  I know that many of the soldiers are not familiar with what or what can't be sent.

I know these soldiers are asking for these things because of need and I would like to send some - what do you guys all do?

Kaylynn