I was wondering if there is a website that would list restricted medications and supplements for countries. I know that you need to bring the perscription and such with you but I plan to bring some multivitamins, probiotics and melatonin.
I was thinking of getting the pharmacy to blister-pack everything - anyone gone that route?
Basically I just don't want any hassle even though I am only going to be flying into France and then non-EU countries Czech Republic and Croatia.
Czech Republic is part of the EU. The only supplement I'm aware of that's restricted would be melatonin. It's unlikely you'll be hassled; customs enforcement is fairly lax entering most countries in Europe. It's very rare to have your bags searched. As long as you keep your supplements labeled it shouldn't be a problem.
Steve, the article you listed is not accurate. Melatonin is RARELY manufactured from any animal source now,, but is synthetic.
And, it is MOST DEFINATELY available over the counter in Canada,, I buy it at Safeways, London Drugs, and Walmart.
Hello to all Melatonin supplement takers. Canada does sell Melatonin over the counter, even in the supermarkets. One of them is running a 2 for 1 sale as I write. It's booze that we can't buy in the grocery stores, darn it! We took all of our unlabeled vitamins (including Melatonin) to Europe and no one even looked at them. Now back to the Canada/U.S. hockey game.
The article cited above (second link) does not say that vitamins are banned in the EU. It says that some FORMS of some vitamins and supplements MAY be banned if the law goes through. It is never wise to make broad blanket statements without reading the article first.
Steve, I think I might speak for many of us here on the forum, that we do have an issue with you simply copying and pasting articles on here. Most people want personal experience, not stuff found on Google which anyone can do. Would it be possible to have you cut back on this a bit?
LOL Steve,, never send a man in to do a womans job,, the Canadian Womens hockey team is going to bring home our hockey gold.. !!!
You go girls!! LOL
I am suspicious of articles/statements written by vitamin/supplement manufacturers or newspapers with an axe to grind. A lot of scaremongering going on. The current EU discussions are an attempt to protect consumers and ensure product quality and honest labelling. IMO no bad thing.
You will find lots of interesting health products in French (and Italian) pharmacies.
Thanks for the insight, it looks like it is something I really don't need to worry about.
It's rather funny that Steve Yzerman said our biggest competition would be the Russians. So now we will face them and possibly the US again. Good grief.
Steve, your post says (in your words, not the headline) that vitamins are banned in the EU. Then you go on to caution people with Vit C, etc. Headlines often are provocative titles to get people to read the article (which I did, but you apparently did not). You, however, assumed from that title that vitamins are banned and said as much.
Jo, I don't mind someone posting a link to another site. Sometimes that can be very helpful, especially if the poster has found the article useful based on his or her personal experience. Copying and pasting an entire article is probably too much, though.
Of course it can be helpful to post links, I post them myself, but I always check them for accuracy and they certainly aren't the main think I post. It is only when the person posting it hasn't even looked at it and also posts a link in just about every single post. Because the information that it is linked to is often incorrect, then no, I do not believe such posts are helpful to the new traveler or anyone else seeking information.
Read some of the other threads on here where other long time posters who have traveled extensively have also found this to not only be annoying, but also have to correct the information that was in the link.
