We will be staying in 5 star hotels in northern India in January. I have read about all the precautions we should take including only bottled water, cooked vegetables etc. We plan on eating only cooked vegetarian foods for our two week trip...but what about dairy?
Can we safely have cream in our coffee, milk and cheese?
I don't want to be paranoid about what we eat, but I don't want to get sick!!!
Any opinions?

Yes, you can eat dairy products. You won’t find a lot of cheese on offer except in Western restaurants and it will have been imported in that case, as cheese is not part of Indian cooking. Cottage cheese (cubed and solid like tofu) in served cooked in Indian dishes. Milk is rarely served and if so, has been boiled first, otherwise it will be the irradiated kind.

Yoghurt is served everywhere and is used extensively in cooking, be sure to try the delicious lassis and you probably should have one every day to keep the “good” bacteria in your gut alive and working.

The health “risks” of eating in India are vastly overrated IMO. Especially in good hotels. Really you have nothing to worry about. I eat sushi there (just don’t tell my mother....)

Funny you should ask, I would have never given dairy products a second thought had it not been for my visit to India. We were staying at the Taj in Aurangabad, and during lunch I had the best coffee milkshake I have ever had in my life!

It was so good I couldn't stop at one... You can probably see what's coming...I paid a hefty price for that moment's pleasure.

My friend had the same meal except for the drinks, so I'm pretty sure the milkshake was the culprit.

I've been EXTREMELY leery of dairy products while on the road since then, but when I have dabbled (in Turkey for instance), I've had no problems.

I've nothing more to offer but my bit of anecdotal evidence.

If you should get diarrhoea or worse try an old traveller's remedy. A small spoon full of salt washed down by a sugary drink. It works.

Thanks for all the replies. Actually, the only thing it would be hard to give up would be the cream or milk in my morning coffee....still, I want to be careful. My husband got deathly ill in Fez Morocco after eating a buffet lunch in the best hotel in Fez....I ate only the cooked vegetable dishes. My husband tasted everything and paid dearly for it....missed 3 days of touring and was miserably sick. So for this trip, we both want to be very careful not to repeat his mistake. I will probably take non dairy creamer in my luggage....I have to have my morning coffee and can't drink it black.

The sugar and salt solution that kaneda recommends is a rehydration solution. It will not stop the diarrhoea nor will it kill bacteris, parasites or viruses.

Dairy products in India are excellent but as Cicerone has observed, cheese is not an Indian staple. However, milk and milk-based drinks are very tasty (unlike in America where production & processing methods have killed all taste of produce). If you dine at the 5-star places you should not have to unduly worry about your health.

glsebs...you sound just like me...i HAVE to have my morning coffee with creme.
when we travelled to thailand, vietnam and cambodia last year...i broke down and bought the non dairy coffee creamer in the packets...its easy, disposable and works in a pinch.