Why is FRUIT on an aeroplane not allowed?

Me and a friend were on a flight from New York to London and as we approached London an announcer said...



"Please be ware that you are NOT allowed to bring any fruit or veg into the UK"



Why is this not allowed?



Our supermarkets import fruit and veg in from all over the world but yet normal civilians can't.



Any explanations?

Why is FRUIT on an aeroplane not allowed?
commercial goods are quality controlled and supposedly tightly monitored and the authorities know of any problems that may be in existence,You bringing in foodstuffs willy-nilly isn't a good idea.

Not only that ..........haven't you heard the UK is a police state
Reply:You think that the UK has unfair restrictions. New Zealand is far worse. In fact their customs are so fussy I would not even think of going there even for a free holiday.
Reply:DOH it's so ppl don't smuggle drugs in inside them!
Reply:Diseases and bugs. Insects are frequently imported that way, and can destroy foreign lands in a VERY short time.
Reply:You may be bringing in bugs and diseases to the UK.



All loads of imported fruit and veg are inspected at the ports, and some types are probably fumigated at some point too. The good thing about the UK being an island is that it still doesn't have some of the nastiest agricultural pests and diseases. If a contaminated load is found, it is destroyed immediately.
Reply:This is a rule that has been in effect for quite a while. The main idea is that you aren't supposed to take fruit and vegetables to a foreign place because they could carry a disease, start a new strain of plant in the country of destination, or could harvest some type of bug that could wreak havoc on the crops in the nation you're heading to. It isn't a stupid rule, it's a rule that was put in place to help curb the spread of crop-killing disease(s) and insect(s) to areas that don't have any defense against said diseases and insects.



You *are* allowed to carry fruits and vegetables onboard domestic flights, just not if you're going overseas. This is (just) one of the reasons you have to go through customs inspections when you go overseas.
Reply:ur not allowd fruit n veg because it might have sumat bad in it that will spread..i know.. stupid