Fruit Fly Borders

Terry,

OK if cooked

Val

Generally if the food has been cooked it is OK as any maggots or fruit fly lavae would also have been killed (Yuk - guess that's what adds to the taste). I have added a couple of links, have a read, should answer most of your questions.

LINK SA PIRSA
Tri State Fruit Fly Program

Mildura is a real problem area as far as SA is coincerned. You will find that when travelling from VIC to SA there will be lots of warning signs and there is a fruit fly road block check at Yamba. If you do have anything onboard that can't be carried into SA you have the option of (a) disposing of into bins provided (b) eating it. If you caught with banned fruit/vegetables, the fines are high.

Good luck with your travels.

Please understand that fruit fly is simply ONE of the quarantine issues. Lots of people seem hard put to understand that things like onions and potatoes are just as much a quarantine issue as fruit. But the myth continues!!
But yes, if you peel and cook, you should be fine. Also remember there are boundaries that don't follow State borders, such as the TriState Fruit Fly Exclusion Region (or something similar). So you may well find yourselves crossing inotan Exclusion Zone without actually crossing a State border.
Have a look at http://www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au/ for the bigger picture than just Fruit Fly.

Cooked is fine. The WA quarantine is especially strict and the border inspection is a long way from the next shop at Norseman! We were caught with vegetables! So we stopped before the border for a night so as not to waste food. (Tourist Info at Ceduna had given us the wrong info!) We chopped and lightly fried onions and put them in a plastic container in the fridge and they were OK and could later be added to stews or barbecues etc. Garlic we peeled and put into a jar with olive oil. It travelled perfectly for weeks in fridge. Potatoes etc we peelrd and steamed and they kept well for a few days. Fruit and tomatoes we peeled and stewed. We arranged it all neatly in containers and had no trouble. We did the same returning through SA - no problems. Commercially frozen or dried fruit and vegies were no problem. Lynne

Direct link to Quarantine Regulations Australia-wide in our Food & Water article

Use this address and you will find out all the you can do for each state. It is actually a quarantine procedure. We were given this booklet last Wednesday as we passed through Oodlawirra in SA. It's the best one we have seen.

http://www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au/index.php

Cheers,
Bruce and Di

Just put a business name on your truck & drive from melbourne on the Western Hwy & into South Australia. I know a fellow who owns businesses who does this weekly and never been stopped. The authorities have been informed & yep you guessed it to busy to check. I suppose it's hard to check every vehicle & his would be hard to spot it has ********Fruit & Veg on the side of the truck including the address of the business. He states he goes to Melbourne from S.A. because the markets are better in Melb. Knowing the prices would help too (Melb cheaper) about the same distance from where he is!!! The smarties out there are getting warm. Don't think all his fruit is sprayed either because you buy it travel the Western or Dukes Hwy across the Border & YOU must place the fresh fruit that has just come from Melbourne into the bin prior travelling from Bordertown into Victoria. Ah yes the fruit fly epidemic....must be bad up Mildura way because all the Inspectors must be up there!!!

Thank you all for your help with the Pesky Fruit Fly,at least now we are as up-to-date as the average traveller now and will now not get caught with any thing that we should not have.Again thanks to all for your help
Terry

Hi Terry

Be aware that when entering the Riverlands Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone, you will have any fruit (most veges OK but tomatoes are fruit) removed at the SA border, even though it is one zone on the map. Had we known, we wouldn't have purchased so much once inside the zone (to replace what we had eaten before entering the zone), or would have cooked and frozen it before the SA border. This SA division was not mentioned on the websites i used to research the Riverlands Zone.

Motherhen