Too Much of a Good Thing: Russians Busted over French Pate

Russians bringing home a huge stockpile of French pate ran afoul Thursday of their country's new food sanctions for having too much of the delicacy.

The tourists returning home from Finland had 70 kilos (150 pounds) of pate confiscated from their car at the Torfyanovka crossing, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of Saint Petersburg, the regional unit of the Russian veterinary service said in a statement.

The pate, made of a mixture of pheasant, duck and boar, was sent back to Finland.

Russia has blacklisted nearly all U.S. and European food imports in response to Western sanctions over Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and its perceived support for a rebellion in the east of the ex-Soviet state. 

When announcing the sanctions earlier this month, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev emphasized that Russians would not have banned delicacies stripped from their personal baggage when returning home from abroad.

But the exception for personal consumption is limited to five kilograms of meat products per person, according to customs regulations, the veterinary service said.

With Saint Petersburg a relatively short drive away from Finland, a number of Russians appear to have been tempted to stock up a little too much on their favourite foods.

The regional veterinary service has reported a series of similar incidents in recent days.