Bringing Cheese Home

I've bought it from Duty Free in Amsterdam prior to a flight. No problems related to lack of refrigeration.

Google is your friend.

Can I bring in food as a traveler (fruit, cheese, meat, etc.)?

Cheese need not necessarily be vacuum packed, but take that packaging if you can get it. Yes, those that travel best are the harder, longer aged cheeses, but I've had no trouble eating "soft, ripened" styles of cheese that I brought back (e.g. Camembert and Livarot from France last year). I try to buy it just a day before departure, especially if my hotel doesn't have a refrigerator. Wrapping it in clothes provides extra insulation. I usually put it in checked baggage, knowing that the cargo hold should not get very warm, but also give a thought to the weather, for instance if baggage handlers might leave a cart out in hot sunshine. Europeans are generally less concerned about refrigerating cheese, so leaving it to sit out for a day is common in many households.

We bring a dozen or so kinds of cheeses home with us on all the trips we've taken to CH.
None of it has ever gone bad. The flight from Zurich to Chicago is no problem with the cheese.

You still have to declare it, but the screener will ask what you have and it will pass. Vacuum packing helps keep it from smelling up the plane.

I think I brought home about 10 pounds from Netherlands last year.

Thanks to all! My husband will enjoy my souvenir cheese.

Bring home as much cheese as you want from Switzerland. We always bring home lots of cheese from France, none of it vacuum packed, and have never had a problem; we always declare it. We used to get asked occasionally what type of cheese, but that hasn't happened in several years.