Concerns over 'food not of animal origin' arriving at top UK airport
Officials have expressed dismay after hundreds of food items that travellers attempted to import into the country were deemed ‘not of animal origin’. One councillor has branded the emerging figures as ‘alarming’.
Britain’s third-busiest airport, located in the North West of England, serves around 32 million passengers every single year, with holidaymakers jetting off to around 200 destinations.
And while travel bosses continue to man the bustling institution, they also work around the clock to stop holidaymakers from sneaking in prohibited items from their travels.
However, new data on import checks has sparked ‘alarm’, causing officers to question whether enough work is really being done to stop potentially dangerous items from entering the country.
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The Manchester Evening News shared details of a report written by Manchester council, which stated that between 2025 and 2026, there were 454 imports of products of animal origin and 21 failed import checks at Manchester Airport.
"There were 533 imports of food not of animal origin, with 72 being sampled and 11 failing the check, and there were nine imports of plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong, with one import being sampled and one failing import checks,” the report stated, as per the publication.
At a council meeting to discuss the report, Green Party local campaigner for Woodhouse Park, Wythenshawe, said: “I find this alarming to be honest, the public put their faith in the health and safety standards of the products that they buy
“If my calculations are correct, according to these figures, on average 81 of 533 imports of food not of animal origin would fail if they had all been checked. That's potentially 70 unsafe imports making it through to British consumers.
“The figures for plastic kitchenware are even more worrying. At least one in nine imports was unsafe, and potentially none of them was safe because only one of the nine imports was checked.”
By using non-approved plastic kitchenware, you put yourself or your family at risk due to its potential to leak harmful chemicals into your food, as per BBC Science Focus Magazine.
In a comment FOODbible a DEFRA spokesperson said: "This Government is fully committed to protecting our biosecurity, consumers and our farming industry.
"We have tightened import rules and increased checks at the border. These strengthened measures are working as intended, intercepting unsafe imports before they can enter the UK food chain."
Airline rules for summer 2026 travel
Amid the summer holiday travel rush, airlines have been reminding jetsetters on what they can and can’t do on board.
WIZZ Air has stated that those flying with them are ‘prohibited from consuming alcoholic beverages not purchased’ from its on-board catering system.
Similarly, it’s ‘strictly forbidden to drink any alcohol that has not been purchased on board’ an EasyJet plane.
Ryanair has reminded customers that hot drinks cannot be brought from the airport onto the plane, which is bad news for Starbucks fans.
Meanwhile, TUI has said that even though its members of staff can serve hot food, it cannot provide heating facilities on board.
“Although for infants, we are able to warm bottles of milk in hot water,” the website stated.
“Therefore, we would advise low-risk food such as pre-made sandwiches and snacks that can be eaten cold.”
Ella Scott