jandj

I keep reading about the dangers of drinking unbottled water, having drinks with ice, etc. How about dairy products? Is it safe to drink tea with cold milk or chai in restaurants or hotel restaurants? Is it safe to eat desserts made with dairy products and/or eggs such as custards or ice cream? What about yogurt? I would think dishes cooked with yogurt or cheese are okay but what about lassis? I know I'm neurotic but many thanks in advance.

thursdaysd

I don't like milk in tea or coffee (tough to achieve in India) but I drank lassi with no ill effects. I believe that with chai the milk is boiled with the tea. I avoid most Indian desserts because they're too sweet for me. Be careful with fruit juices - you need to watch yours being made to make sure it's not cut with water. And you know not to brush your teeth with tap water, right?

Kathie

The general guideline about milk and milk products is not to eat or drink any fresh/cold milk products that have not been cooked or pasturized. So that would eliminate cold milk in coffee or tea, but if the milk is thoroughly steamed it should be fine. Cheese and yougurt in hot dishes are fine.

Femi

I had the best Iced coffee (they put ice cream in it) in my life in India, but I paid a heavy price for it and have been wary ever since.

Kathie how can you tell if milk products have been pasturised or not? I've missed a lot of samplings of dairy products since my India trip and would love to remedy the situation.

Kathie

Femi, basically you can only tell whether milk products have been pasturized by whether you are in a country where they pasturize milk products ;-)

I know, not very helpful except that milk is not routinely pasturized in India, for instance. Unless I had other info (such as a milk carton that is unopened and says pasturized), I would assume that the milk products in India are not pasturized. Your point about ice cream is excellent, as since the milk is not heated sufficiently to kill bacteria when making ice cream, ice cream must be treated as a raw milk product.

shrinagesh

Buy dairy products from branded companies like Amul, Kwality which produces them in hi technology plants. They are safe.
Anything cooked is safe and if you are opting for cold food, just look for their date of manufacture, date of expiry, ensure the packed was not tampered, frozen and in big shops where they are replenished immediately.

Cicerone

I travel to India very frequently (in fact I am writing this from the lounge at Hyderabad airport). I drink lassis, eat yoghurt, have milk in tea, eat cheese, and eat Indian deserts like kulfi which is ice-cream/milk-based. I never ask whether the milk is pasteurized, often I am sitting in a meeting and the tea is presented with the milk saucer and I have to say it never even occurred to me to be concerned about it. (I am drinking a cup of chai right now with milk.) I used to live in Europe and unpasturized milk products are on offer there too. Much of the yoghurt in India is pasteurized, for example the yoghurt I had on the airplane from Delhi this morning certainly was because the carton said so; but natural Indian yoghurt probably isn’t and it is a good thing, IMO, because it is full of good stuff generally. I am a big believer in a lassi or yoghurt a day to help keep the good bacteria going in your gut to fight off the bad stuff.

Except for two minor instances in about 55 trips here (both of which I believe were related to salad, not dairy) I have never been ill here. While I will admit to having a good trallever’s stomach, really IMO the food issues related to travel in India are vastly overrated. Unless you are pregnant or otherwise feel that you would have a problem fighting off a minor bacterial infection (which your body does naturally many times without your even knowing about it at home where the food is “safe”), I would not have any concerns. I would in fact suggest a lassi or a yoghurt once a day. Bring some Pepto Bismol and some Imodium just in case and relax and enjoy the very good food that is on offer here, both Indian and otherwise. (Great sushi in Mumbai, they make vegetarian sushi too!!)

Use common sense, if a restaurant does not seem clean, don’t eat there. In good hotels, really you are going to be quite fine for the most part. In street stalls, stick to food that is cooked and hot and freshly prepared in front of you. In general, my only caution is green salads, just because they don’t keep well in most of the climates here, and really aren’t part of the Indian diet so I think kitchen staff may not understand as well how to treat them. I have no issues with fruit, esp in hotels, I eat fruit that I have not peeled myself like watermelon and pineapple (shock horror!!)

In many hotels you can brush your teeth with tap water, as it is potable, just ask the hotel or there will be a sign in your room.

jandj

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the responses. Cicerone, I was hoping to get one from you and I am so grateful for the thought that goes into your answers. Thanks to all.

jjkbrook

we ate a great deal of yogurt and yogurt based dishes, like lassis, on our trip with no problem whatsoever. (milk is heated in preparing yogurt)

Almost always the milk served with tea or coffee is hot not cold in India.

the milk is different in different areas - sometimes it will be from water buffalos sometimes cows.

Finally, my daughter taught me to ask for "filtered" water in restaurants - it is processed (filtered) the same as commercial bottled water, but you wont get charged as much.

Some people say ice cream might not be safe in India because of power failures, which cause melting and spoilage. This isnt going to be true everywhere.

Ive heard reports of people who had problems getting sick from paneer based dishes. Its important, like others have said, to get your food freshly cooked and HOT. We ate lots of good paneer dishes, but I would be leery of it if it werent piping hot or had been sitting around for hours on a buffet.

Cicerone

Well, here is the thing with paneer, as I make my own. This is Indian cottage cheese, and is made with whole milk. To make it, the milk is boiled quite thoroughly. You have to boil it so long and so completely that it separates, and then you strain out the water and use the whey to make the paneer. You do have to let it sit for a few hours to be pressed into shape, but after that, it is generally fried in butter before being put into whatever dish is it being used in. So, essentially it is cooked twice before being put into a dish (where it is heated again). With the first boiling, I doubt anything is left alive in it, so I really wouldn't have any concerns, plus it is cooked/heated at least once more before you would eat it. I have my doubts that anyone gets sick fro paneer, it may be something else either in the dish or eaten with the dish. (If you want a paneer recipe, let me know, it is ridiculously easy to make.)

On the ice cream issue, I agree that power outages would be an issue, however in a good hotel, they have back up generators, which means that the power is never interrupted for more than 10 seconds or so (you can sometimes tell when the power is switching over). While you may not want to eat ice cream from a street stall or a stand-alone restaurant which may not have its own generator (however, many many restaurants and even homes have their own generators as "load shedding" power outages are a frequent daily occurrence), having it in a good tourist standard hotel would really not be an issue, IMO. Of course in Jan and Dec you may not want ice cream anyway, it's cold enough outside.

hunteratlarge

Don't pay too much attention to the people who have not been ill, and hope you will be so lucky. TB is a big danger where milk is not Pasturized and India has a lot of TB. Ask for "black tea with separate boiled milk" or ask for all milk to be boiled. "Chai" is tea boiled together with milk. Have a look into the kitchens of Hotels etc and remember that the staff who do the low paid jobs, are not likely to be trained in, or aware of "wash your hands Hygene. Cooked food and Tourist Rest'nts r best bet