iTaoBuy routes that accepted food in the estimator, 16 October 2026
The notice names eleven routes. The estimator, asked with its own Food categories, answered with different ones. Here is every answer, dated.
How we asked the estimator about food
iTaoBuy’s iTaoBuy freight estimator works without logging in. Besides destination, weight and box size, it has a Product Category picker. Under Food it offers seven sub-categories: Paste, Powder, Meat Products, Inflammables, Fragile Products, Non-Meat Food and Liquid.
When a category is picked, routes do not disappear. Each route that refuses it stays in the list, greyed out, with an orange strip reading “The parcel contained prohibited articles” followed by the category. We watched the page send its request and replayed the same request for nine destinations: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.
Each destination got 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 kg with no category, Non-Meat Food and Meat Products, then 1 kg with Powder, Liquid and Paste: 162 queries, all with a 30 × 20 × 10 cm box, all on 16 October 2026, two seconds or more apart. Raw responses are kept with this site’s working files.
Notice names against estimator names
We searched every response for the eleven names in the 3 April 2026 food notice. Ten were absent. HZ-ETY appeared, to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and all five EU countries.
The estimator does contain routes with similar endings. Canada has Canada Line-TH and Canada Line-MG; the notice names Canada Line-TM. Europe has DHL Duty-Free - TH, whose Chinese name translates as Europe DHL special goods; the notice names Europe DHL Tariffless Line-T. Similar is not the same, and iTaoBuy has not published a renaming list, so this guide does not pair them.
What we can say is narrower and checkable: on 16 October, with Food selected, these were the routes that came back without a rejection. If you want to know whether a notice route still exists under another name, ask support. The notice itself offers a reply within one business day.
Non-Meat Food at 1 kg, destination by destination
| Destination | Open routes that did not reject Non-Meat Food | Also priced, but closed to the EU |
|---|---|---|
| United States | U.S. Line - F (10-15 days, 267.4 CNY) | – |
| Canada | HZ-EUB (11-19 days, 210.8 CNY); Canada Line-TH (13-16 days, 254.4 CNY); HZ-ETY (11-16 days, 277.7 CNY); EMS - Sea Line (34-58 days, 277.8 CNY) | – |
| United Kingdom | UK Small Parcel Service - F (6-8 days, 144.0 CNY); Royal Mail Express Service-MG (10-13 days, 162.1 CNY); HZ-EUB (6-15 days, 178.1 CNY); HZ-ETY (13-18 days, 225.8 CNY) | – |
| Australia | HZ-EUB (16-20 days, 155.8 CNY); HZ-ETY (14-18 days, 210.4 CNY); HZ-SAL (15-36 days, 214.0 CNY) | – |
| Germany | DHL Duty-Free - TH (7-15 days, 240.0 CNY); DHL Europe Direct Service - MG (9-12 days, 244.1 CNY) | HZ-EUB, HZ-ETY, HZ-SAL |
| France | DHL Duty-Free - TH (7-15 days, 298.2 CNY); DHL Europe Direct Service - MG (11-18 days, 302.3 CNY) | HZ-EUB, HZ-ETY, HZ-SAL |
| Italy | DHL Duty-Free - TH (7-15 days, 309.1 CNY); DHL Europe Direct Service - MG (11-18 days, 313.2 CNY) | HZ-EUB, HZ-SAL, HZ-ETY |
| Spain | DHL Duty-Free - TH (7-15 days, 306.0 CNY); DHL Europe Direct Service - MG (14-19 days, 309.4 CNY) | HZ-EUB, HZ-ETY, HZ-SAL |
| Netherlands | DHL Duty-Free - TH (7-15 days, 276.1 CNY); DHL Europe Direct Service - MG (12-18 days, 280.2 CNY) | HZ-SAL, HZ-EUB, HZ-ETY |
Read the table as a snapshot, not a ranking. The United States had one route, U.S. Line - F, at 267.4 CNY for 1 kg and 10 to 15 days. Australia had only postal routes: HZ-EUB, HZ-ETY and HZ-SAL, none of which offers Worry-Free cover.
Every EU country we tried returned the same two open routes, DHL Duty-Free - TH and DHL Europe Direct Service - MG, priced between 240.0 CNY (Germany) and 313.2 CNY (Italy). The estimator also priced HZ-EUB, HZ-ETY and HZ-SAL for the EU; the 23 June notice says those routes are closed, and the estimator has not caught up.
Germany’s screenshot shows what that looks like. The postal routes are the top of the list, priced and clickable, and the reason you should not use them is in a notice, not on the card.
Canada and the United Kingdom are the opposite case. Their postal routes, HZ-EUB and HZ-ETY, were returned without rejection in the 16 October readings and were outside the cited EU closure, giving dated postal and dedicated examples side by side, with the trade-offs the route descriptions spell out: who clears customs, and whether Worry-Free cover is offered.
Weight changes the list
The same parcel at a different weight can lose its route. Canada kept four open routes for food at 0.5, 1 and 2 kg, then fell to two at 3 kg, EMS - Sea Line and Canada Line-TH. Australia went from three to one, HZ-SAL, the route on which the carrier picks sea or air.
The cause is weight limits on the postal routes. At 3 kg, HZ-EUB and HZ-ETY dropped out of every list except the United Kingdom’s, where both still priced the parcel alongside the two UK routes, which carried food at every weight we tried.
Prices also step up with weight, unevenly. U.S. Line - F was 230.6 CNY at 0.5 kg, 267.4 at 1 kg, 451.4 at 2 kg and 635.4 at 3 kg. Splitting a heavy food parcel in two can open routes, at the cost of a second fixed operation fee.
Size counts as well as weight. The routes in this table bill the greater of actual and volume weight, and a box of puffed snacks can weigh little and bill as much more. Our readings used a 30 × 20 × 10 cm box, which already counts as 0.75 kg on routes that divide by 8,000.
When a route’s own text disagrees with the check
Every route in the estimator carries a description and a field of forbidden items. Several contradict the category check we just ran. We list them because a contradiction is a reason to ask support before paying, not because one side is right.
| Route | What its own text says |
|---|---|
| DHL Duty-Free - TH | Its own forbid text lists food among items it does not take, yet the Food category check did not reject it. |
| DHL Europe Direct Service - MG | Its forbid field is written in Chinese and names pure batteries and firearms; it rejected none of the five Food sub-categories. |
| HZ-ETY | Its description reads: this channel is for sending electronic products only. The food notice bans liquids, powders and meat on it; the category check rejected none of them. |
| Canada Line-TH | Its forbid text says liquids and powders are not accepted, yet the Powder and Liquid checks did not reject it. |
| Royal Mail Express Service-MG | Its description says it accepts food; its forbid text names liquids and powders. |
| U.S. Line - F | Its forbid text names powders. The Meat Products check did not reject it. |
| EMS - Sea Line | A sea route: the card says 34 to 58 days, its description says about 30 to 40. |
The sharpest case is DHL Duty-Free - TH. Its forbidden list includes “food”, yet it accepted Non-Meat Food, Meat Products and Paste in our readings. The route name cannot resolve this contradiction. Ask support to confirm the actual product before purchasing or submitting the parcel.
The U.S. screenshot shows the simpler situation: one route left, and its forbidden field names powders, which matches the Powder check rejecting it. Text and check agree there, and the answer for a powder in a US parcel was simply no open route at all.
When text and check disagree, write to support with the route name, the item and the destination before paying. Our pre-check prints these route notes alongside its flags so you see them at the moment you choose.
Australia: three postal routes and nothing else
The notice names AU Line-MG for Australia. The estimator returned five routes for Australia, all postal, and none called AU Line-MG. With Non-Meat Food selected, HZ-ETK and HZ-Postal Parcel AIR turned grey and three stayed: HZ-EUB (16 to 20 days, 155.8 CNY), HZ-ETY (14 to 18 days, 210.4 CNY) and HZ-SAL (15 to 36 days, 214.0 CNY).
Postal routes come with conditions written into their descriptions: you handle customs clearance and pay duties yourself, and delivery confirmation, compensation and tracking queries are not offered. None of the three accepts Worry-Free cover.
HZ-ETY is the one notice route among them, and the notice bans liquids, powders and meat on it. For an Australian address, those are agent-side estimator observations only. No Australian import permission was established by the 16 October source check.
Postal routes also mean slower and wider windows. HZ-SAL’s 15 to 36 days is the widest window in our readings after the Canadian sea route, and the slow end is the one the shelf-life check uses.