Small Gifts to Bring?

Which reminds me:

Italians Try American Snacks

Italians Try American Sweets

And while we're at it

Italian Vs. American Nutella Taste Test

Too funny! And I must admit - those "snacks" are not for me either. Thanks for the laugh.

Yes Craig that was fantastic!

M&M's; not the standard ones, but the ones with almond, peanut butter, mint or pretzel fillings. Razzles. Mountain Dew. Root beer (hmm well, maybe not...)
Enough ingredients in this topic to make a nice, colourful gift basket...

My question would also be who your recipient is, in the sense of old vs young etc?.....I love all the suggestions above for sure and and can confirm that Reeses peanut butter cups and peanut butter itself is a bit of a commodity..though these days it's SO much easier to find. Maple syrup too.

As far as different suggestions, I must say some things my own relatives often appreciate are "authentic" taco kits and seasoning packets (more readily available in Italy these days but still appreciated) and varieties of dried peppers/etc from Mexican grocery stores that they can't get there. In fact, if you can manage to keep and transport it properly (a pain, but not impossible) you can bring Mexican meats and cheeses they wouldn't otherwise have access to and my family LOVES making taco/nacho/etc nights out of these things. Central and South American chocolates of high quality could also be a reasonable thing.

The sad truth? I brought boxes of popcorn and Aldi mac n cheese as well as Kraft and now EVERY time I come they can't leave me alone for these cancer-cheese noodles and I bring them.

Oreos, fritos, our wide variety of junk food...probably not ethical to introduce to the environment, but they love it :)

you can bring Mexican meats

I know the reverse isn't true--you can't bring most meats into the US (as I sadly found out at JFK trying to bring in some lovely Italian sausage)--so I'd double-check to make sure whether the reverse is do-able.

I brought boxes of popcorn and Aldi mac n cheese as well as Kraft

To Italy? I ask because the Italians I know tend to be a bit... particular about actual food products, especially cheese--just as they are about wines, as mentioned above. In short, I can't imagine any of my Italian friends not turning their noses up at any "cheese product packet" included in any mac and cheese box.
Anyway, cheese to Italy is a bit like coals to Newcastle.

i'd stick to snacks and sweets which even if un-liked, will at least be good for a laugh, rather than (potentially) be blamed for ruining a meal. On the other hand, any mac & cheese product would probably be served as a starter at the beginning of an otherwise salvageable meal. Served, yes. Eaten? I have my doubts.

It might be useful if some of our native Italians would suggest what not to bring. Which is basically what I've done. But it will have more authority coming from a real Italian rather than a mere expat. :)

I really question Mac and cheese also. But, it is also possible someone would like it. I have found the things I seem to miss the mot from Europe are the things I can't get in the USA, like Gingerino.

Here is a thought for you. I have had thirteen foreign exchange students and EVERY one loved BLT's and have never had one before coming to the USA, Many of my students have taken American bacon back home with them. I remember one time I had an exchange student from Thailand and froze five pounds of bacon, wrapped in newspaper, put it in the middle of his suitcase and when he arrived home it was still frozen. They can't get the American style bacon easily and the flavor is what makes a BLT. Just a thought, make BLT's for them when you arrive. One other thing they all really seemed to like and most had never had before was corn on the cob, but question if it is worth taking on the trip.

You're right, it's been some years since I brought the meats and cheeses so it's worth checking official rules, but no one's ever bugged me about them on my way out of the US or bringing them in to Europe. I kept them cold by nicely asking the stewards on the plane to refrigerate the items and so far the only airline to be snarky about it was KLM.

I don't understand the Mac n Cheese thing at ALL, as well as stuff like Oreos, but I guess it must be a novelty to eat TRUE crap in a place like Italy. Lord knows no one's ever served the stuff as a proper first dish at a meal or anything, it's just a snack they like and that the kids seem unable to get enough of. I too would have a hard time believing it, only it's too absurd to make up! I have a cousin who's addicted to Kellogg's Raisin Bran and in all my years searching stores in Rome, I've never been able to find it (adding raisins to bran flakes isn't the same level of artificial goodness) so I have to bring her some when I come. The person who suggested bacon is SO right; there's nothing like american bacon in Italy, and knowing that it can be frozen and checked and survive the trip has given me new hope for life. The cousins who visited me here all LOVED BLTs as did I when I first had one (I never tasted an American-bacon BLT until I was about 15), so on the next trip where I fly in from the US, I'm going to try that myself :)

Suggestions of what NOT to bring are good too.

Booze that's hard to find in Italy is usually well-received too, but again, all these things depend on the recipient.

TravelJunkie83, a little more detail about freezing bacon. I took four or five one pound packages of the American bacon, wrapped them in SEVERAL layers of news paper. News Paper is a very good insulator. I keep it in my freezer for a couple days to make sure it was frozen solid. The flight back to Thailand was almost 24 hours and it was still frozen solid. Many years ago I worked at an ice cream store and we would frequently wrap ice cream in layers of newspaper and kept at a temp. of -10 degrees and then it could withstand a long tip in a car.

I have never had a problem taking things to Europe, but coming back to the USA it can be a problem. Beef from Canada was a problem at one time, cigars from Cuba was a problem and many fresh meets from Europe are a problem, if it was canned, it was OK.

Yeah the US is strict on food items coming in for sure; I'd say they're generally checking for foreign ham sandwiches with even more fervor than they search for actual contraband!

Thanks for the bacon-smuggling tips lol :) If yours survived for that amount of time I'm sure the Chicago-Rome/London/Amsterdam flights will be no problem.....you've made my cousins and Amsterdam friends very happy because I'm about to use this knowledge!

Now, how to do the same with Italian bacons and cheese and bring them back in the US undetected?......perhaps stash a bag of ACTUAL contraband in the bag to distract the dogs from the glorious meaty scent and they'll take THAT instead? (Yes, I'm totally kidding)

Reese Buttercup, Ghiradeli Chocolates, Hersheys.