Bringing Supplements to India

vmehra24

Is it possible to bring supplements to India without being hassled at Customs?
By supplements I mean things like multi-vitamins and cod liver oil and not prescription drugs.
Would I need some documents along in case I bring supplements in slightly large quantities eg 5-6 bottles.

Aishah

I can't imagine you will have a problem - 5 - 6 bottles is not really a huge quantity and these are not prescription drugs. Others may know better... But there are splendid multi-vitamin supplements here that you can readily buy from Medical Stores all over the country. Cod- liver oil may be the only one not so easily available, but then again it could. I've never looked for that one.

Also, check out the Threads listed below at the bottom of this page.

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capt_mahajan

I don't think you will have any problems.

And Cod liver oil is available in India.. Seacod, I think.
(earlier Seven Seas was available, but I think the companies merged or something)

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puchoo

Easily available...

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suzi

Hello, I brought back with me to Bangalore from the US 4 bottles of multivitamins and cod oil pills this past January and did not get a single question from customs. As far as availability of multivitamins at least from the 4 or 5 Medical shops along my street I did find multivitamins, but they were easily several times the cost of those that I purchased in the US and brought back. I did find cod liver oil here in India, but I find the stuff disgusting and instead take the capsules which, as far as I know, are not available.

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I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uhmmm, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps

puchoo

Again, easy available...more than the oil...

atala

Customs could not care less about such items. What they are looking for are narcotic drugs, and luxury gold items, and other luxury merchandise clearly for sale. If you bring more than two Rolex watches you might have reason to get a bit nervous, but not because of things of daily use, including cameras and laptop.

suzi

I guess perhaps our interpretation of easy is different. As I said I went to at least 4-5 shops in Bangalore and didn't find them. Going to more than half a dozen shops to find one item does not qualify as "easy" in my book...

puchoo

Well, i would then wonder if it might not be easily available in Bangalore..but i have bought them there as well on one trip.....either that or maybe you are looking at small/understocked shops??

OcoeeG

If you take cod liver oil I suggest you bring it with you. Yes it is availible here, but Seacod only comes in tiny capsules you need to take like 4 of them to be effective and they are rather expensive. The capusules availible in the west are far superior.

vmehra24

Also, high-strength (5000 IU) pills of Vitamin-D3 are not available in India. Though India is sun-rich but someone suffering from a severe disease may not find it easy to sun bathe in our Summer sun esp when the person is dark-skinned (thus requiring prolonged sun exposure).
So high-strength vit-D3 pills may be necessary.

Infact, it will be very helpful if somebody could tell me
if such pills are available in India.

NeeliAankhen

I took a lot of stuff like that on my recent trip, in the biggish plastic bottles it came in, and had no trouble at customs or security for several domestic flights.

Only thing that caused us trouble - as they should have!! - a set of little knives I bought in a market in Pushkar and put into a little case with some wedding souvenirs - at some re-packing point I mistakenly shifted the case into a carry-on bag. Still think about these knives when I am setting the table (no time to go all the way back through airport to check them in).

capt_mahajan

Lucky.

An Indian in the US was arrested and detained for the same thing a year or two ago.

NeeliAankhen

!! wow that is awful.

These were small folding pocket knives (they were pretty, they were 50 cents each, and they were going to become steak knives at home)-- the longer version of the story is, I'd put them in with assorted scarves and bags of homemade candy (from bride) in a box given to me as a souvenir of a wedding I went to, and then put the box in my friend's bag where she had offered me some space because of shipping something else home. Then several stops later that bag became her carryon bag.

Anyhow it's awful if the Indian person was actually arrested, rather than just having to give up the knives, as we did. The security guy was basically nice to my friend about it. She said he and his colleagues ate the candy.

edwardseco

And according to my better half used a long time in India as a supplement, ugh..