Rachel

I cannot tolerate many things, will I need to bring medication re: food issues in the Dominican and will that ruin the trip?

eatwell

What do you mean by "cannot tolerate many things"?

Where are you staying? At an AI or are you eating from local restaraunts?

We just got back from the DR and my wife is a picky eater. The buffets have something for everyone and you can always get food cooked to order which has less of a chance of causing you issues.

I will eat anything and will try anything once and of course needed a few swigs of Pepto but it had no impact on our great trip.

nina

Who knows? Six of us from age 2 to 62, ate everything, and no one got the least bit sick. We stayed at the Fiesta Bavaro. We did not drink any water though, only bottled. Even brushed our teeth with it. We packed imodium just in case, but never needed to use it.

debbie

Same thing with us - we stayed at the Paradisus and i brought every stomach medicine with us - a whole suitcase full. We also ate and drank everything and took PROBIOTICA for 2 weeks before we left. We had rumbly tummies maybe one day each and noone had on same day so i am not sure what causes it but it was nothing that in any way grounded us. We also did not drink the water although my husband brushed his teeth with it. Go and have a great time.

pam

We were there several years ago, I did not have any problems. My husband was very sick. Not sure, why, but a travel agent advised against eating any seafood. I did not, he did. I have heard people having serious problems but some do, and some do not. Difficult to say why, but I would go and have a good time. He could have just got a bug while we were there for all we know.

Trent

Yes, drinking bottled water and brushing your teeth with bottled water is a good idea. But, also remember that overeating, drinking a lot, eating too many fruits and the sun can all add to stomach distress. Also do not buy and eat food from street vendors.

Keri

Question : Is the food safe in the United States of America ?
??????????!!!!!??????

don't

No, the food is not always safe in the United States - look at the recent recall for the listeria contaminated poultry products.

The DR is beautiful but in many ways is a third world country.

curious

Don't,
You include the last sentence re DR being a third world country in many ways to say what?

nina

Keri, It's not that the water is necessarily contaminated, it's that the water has bacteria that foreigners haven't built up immunities to, so not being used to the DR's water, foreigners are very likely to become ill from it. That is why the recommendation is not to drink any unpurified water in the DR, Mexico and many other foreign locations. If you were fine after drinking the water, consider yourself lucky.

I believe that what don't was also implying, by her statement about third world (which I don't buy anyway, poor and industrially inferior yes, third world, no), is that the government is not as strict about regulating food processing and preparation as we are here in the US, again, leading to a higher incidence of bacteria in the food in SOME establishments. Of course even here, with all our inspections and regulations, accidents happen, just not as often as in the DR.

mh

Yes, as long as you don't eat it. Be very careful with foods in their natural form ie: fruits, veggies, etc. they rinse them with unpotable water, and that will bring down a vacation in a second. It happened to me at a great resort in the DR. All the cooked food was fine and the desserts were heavenly. It was hot and I got really thirsty and for a few days ate alot of fruit from the buffets, that is what made me sick. As least that is what the American Dr., who saw me said. He was at the same resort and I felt more comfortable with him, and his diagnosis was free. Just be careful and under no circumstances ingest even the smallest amount of water that is not designated drinking water. I got dysentary in Sarajevo in 99 from a small amount of toothbrush water...that was hell compared to my DR expereince. Have fun!!!

whyremoved

Why are some of these posts removed? Nina is correct. My physician explained this to me. Our bodies are not use to the parasites that may be in the water. If one continues to travel to these destinations, the more tolerable your body will become. Eating food well cooked, avoiding the fruits, is well headed advice. Brush your teeth with bottled water. When we arrived in DR the resort told us this once we left the airport.

ronald

The food is not safe, especially after dark.

eventhenatives

Good point Why. When we boarded the van which took us to our resort, the guide made a point to remind everyone not to drink the water, not even to brush with it. He said many people become sick IF they don't heed this advice.