Sending homemade mathri, besan laddoo, dry snacks, and festival sweets to your children or relatives in the United States is simple when you follow three basic steps:
- Send only dry, shelf-stable items: Avoid fresh milk sweets like rasgulla or paneer. Stick to dry sweets, roasted snacks, dry fruits, and ground spices.
- Mandatory FDA Prior Notice: The US FDA requires electronic registration for every food parcel entering the country. Forces Express submits this notice on your behalf.
- Airtight packaging: Vacuum pouches and sturdy containers protect your food from cabin pressure changes and rough transit handling.
- Free doorstep pickup across Delhi NCR: Our driver visits your home in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, or Faridabad with a digital scale and checks the items with you.
Every festive season—from Rakhi and Diwali to winter pinni season—thousands of parents and families across Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida prepare packages for relatives living in the United States. Indian grocery stores in cities like San Jose, Dallas, and Edison stock imported branded snacks, but they cannot replace the taste and love of home-cooked mathri, fresh laddoos, or family spice blends.
At the same time, shipping food across international borders requires care. Both the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforce clear import guidelines to keep agricultural pests and prohibited ingredients out of the country. If a parcel is packed incorrectly or lacks the necessary paperwork, customs officials can hold or discard it.
In this guide, our team at Forces Express walks you through what you can pack, what items to leave at home, how to vacuum seal your snacks, and the exact steps we follow to courier homemade food from Delhi NCR to doorsteps across all 50 US states.
1. What Food Items Can You Send to the US (and What to Avoid)
US customs officers at major cargo entry hubs like JFK in New York, O’Hare in Chicago, and San Francisco Airport screen food shipments daily. The basic rule is simple: dry, shelf-stable foods are welcome; wet, perishable, meat, or poultry items are strictly prohibited.
| Category | Safe to Courier (Permitted) | Do Not Send (Prohibited by US Customs) |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Sweets (Mithai) | Dry sweets like Besan Laddoo, Kaju Katli, Motichoor Laddoo, Pinni, Panjiri, Soan Papdi, and dry Petha. Must be sealed in food-grade airtight containers. | Fresh dairy sweets with liquid syrup or high moisture, such as Rasgulla, Gulab Jamun in open syrup, Chamcham, Kalakand, or fresh Paneer. |
| Savory Snacks (Namkeen) | Dry snacks including Mathri, Shakkarpara, Murukku, Chakli, Bhujia, roasted Chana, Sev, and Khakhra. | Fried items packed in thin open newspaper or carry bags without airtight sealing, or items containing egg batter. |
| Spices & Groceries | Ground spices like Haldi, Jeera powder, Garam Masala, dry coriander powder, whole dry chillies, and roasted dry fruits (almonds, cashews, raisins). | Fresh ginger, raw garlic cloves, fresh curry leaves, and unprocessed raw seeds that can be planted in soil. |
| Pickles & Chutneys | Commercially or cleanly packaged mango, lime, and chilli pickles in oil, provided they are packed in sealed, leak-proof food jars. | Pickles containing meat, chicken broth, shrimp, or fish. Pickles packed in glass bottles that easily break under pressure. |
| Meat & Poultry Products | None. All meat products are strictly barred from non-commercial personal import. | Mutton pickle, chicken kababs, egg preparations, or packaged chips flavored with animal fat. |
If you have questions about a specific regional snack or homemade recipe, you can contact the Forces Express support desk or message us on WhatsApp with the ingredient details before packing.
2. The US FDA Prior Notice Requirement Explained Simply
One of the most common reasons why parcels sent through standard post get held at US customs is the missing FDA Prior Notice.
Under US federal law, the FDA must receive electronic notification of all food arriving in the country before the plane touches down. This rule applies to everyone—whether a large multinational food importer or a mother sending snacks to her son in Seattle.
What Information Goes into the Prior Notice?
- The complete list of food items and their English names (for example, "Roasted Chickpea Flour Sweets" instead of just "Laddoo").
- The sender’s full residential address in Delhi NCR and contact phone number.
- The recipient’s residential address and active phone number in the United States.
- Estimated quantity and net weight of each item.
When you book your consignment through Forces Express, you do not need to create an FDA account or fill out complex government portals yourself. Our operations team creates and files the electronic Prior Notice Confirmation Number (PNC) for your parcel and attaches the barcode to your Air Waybill pouch.
3. Packing Homemade Food Step-by-Step for Long-Distance Flights
International cargo aircraft fly at high altitudes where cabin cargo holds experience changes in barometric pressure and temperature. On top of that, your box will pass through mechanized sorting conveyor belts in Delhi and at US airport hubs. To make sure your sweets reach your family fresh and unbroken, follow these practical packaging steps:
- Cool Everything Completely Before Packing:
Never pack warm sweets, fresh mathri, or hot snacks straight from the pan into plastic bags. Condensation builds up inside sealed plastic, creating moisture that leads to mold within 48 hours. Let everything cool to room temperature on a clean counter.
- Use 50-Micron Vacuum Pouches or Hard Tupperware:
Thin polythene bags tear open during shipping. We recommend vacuum-sealed food-grade pouches or sturdy plastic food containers with snap-lock lids. Vacuum sealing removes air, keeps the contents crisp, and prevents delicate mathri from crumbling.
- Double-Seal Oil and Pickle Jars:
If you are sending homemade mango or lime pickle, avoid heavy glass bottles. Use food-grade PET or HDPE containers. Wrap the threaded neck of the jar with thread tape or packing tape, tighten the lid firmly, and enclose the entire jar in two layers of heat-sealed polythene bags. This ensures that even if minor oil oozes under pressure, none of it touches the rest of your box.
- Label Every Pouch in English:
Write a clear English label on each packet using a permanent marker (e.g., "Homemade Wheat Mathri - Flour, Ghee, Cumin, Salt"). US customs inspectors appreciate clear ingredient labels, which speeds up agricultural screening.
- Cushion the Shipping Carton:
Place heavier items (like pickle containers and laddoo boxes) at the bottom of the carton. Place lighter items (like sev and khakhra) on top. Fill every empty gap with bubble film or clean crumpled paper so nothing moves when you shake the box.
4. Documents You Need for Shipping Food from Delhi to the US
Compared to commercial cargo, sending homemade food parcels requires only a few basic identification documents:
- Sender’s KYC Document: Clear copy of your Aadhaar Card, Passport, or Voter ID showing your address in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, or Faridabad.
- Detailed Packing List: A simple handwritten or printed list detailing each item, its approximate weight in kilograms, and its declared value in Indian Rupees.
- Recipient Details in the US: Full name, physical street address (no P.O. Box), postal ZIP code, and an active US telephone number.
- Customs Gift / Personal Declaration: Forces Express provides a simple declaration form confirming that the shipment is a personal gift for family consumption with zero commercial value.
5. Food Courier Rates and Transit Times from Delhi NCR to USA
Our pricing is direct and transparent. Every booking includes doorstep pickup in Delhi NCR, export packing inspection, FDA Prior Notice paperwork filing, and tracked door-to-door delivery across the United States:
| Parcel Weight (kg) | Priority Express (4–6 Working Days) | Economy Cargo (7–9 Working Days) | Services Included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1.0 kg | ₹2,850 – ₹3,350 | ₹2,350 – ₹2,650 | Delhi NCR home pickup, FDA Prior Notice, live tracking. |
| 1.0 kg to 2.0 kg | ₹3,750 – ₹4,350 | ₹3,150 – ₹3,550 | Outer box re-taping, airline security scan, door delivery. |
| 2.0 kg to 5.0 kg | ₹5,450 – ₹6,650 | ₹4,550 – ₹5,450 | Sturdy 5-ply export box, customs filing, signature confirmation. |
| 5.0 kg to 10.0 kg | ₹8,950 – ₹10,850 | ₹7,450 – ₹8,950 | Bulk festival shipment rate, doorstep pickup with digital scale. |
| Above 10.0 kg | ₹850 – ₹980 / kg | ₹720 – ₹820 / kg | Special family consolidation rates for major celebrations. |
*Note: Rates vary depending on prevailing airline fuel surcharges. To compare international shipping rates or book shipments for other household items, visit our dedicated Courier to USA corridor. If you have family in the UK or the Middle East, we also operate direct express routes for Courier to UK and Courier to UAE Dubai.
6. How to Book Your Doorstep Pickup with Forces Express
Booking a pickup takes less than two minutes:
- Give us a quick call or message on WhatsApp: Share your pickup address in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, or Faridabad and the approximate weight of your food box.
- Doorstep weighment: Our courier driver visits your home with a digital scale, verifies your packed items, and hands you an official receipt.
- Customs filing: Our Delhi hub verifies your packing list, files the FDA Prior Notice, and assigns a master tracking number.
- Live updates: Track your shipment at any point using our Forces Express Live Tracking tool until your family in the US receives their box.