Manila - Post Report Question and Answers
What kinds of organic, vegetarian and allergy-friendly foods are available, such as organic produce, gluten-free products, meat substitutes for vegetarians, etc?
It's available, but you’ll pay through the roof for it. Everything is here. Wholefoods looks like a bargain compared to the organic food chain here. - May 2012
Organic produce you can buy at the Saturday Market, as well as a couple of places in the Fort. There's even a CSA some people use. There's such a variety here of foods, that those with restrictions should not have issues, but those allergic should make it very clear when ordering at restaurants, as they're not really used to customizing a meal, or taking allergy seriously. - Mar 2012
Almost none. There is a store called Healthy Options that DOES carry speciality foods, but expect to pay triple the prices that you do in the States. We buy our son's food (Earth's Best) from Healthy Options, because the cost of buying it here is cheaper than the shipping cost through DPO.Meat-free here to most locals means you can eat fish and other seafood, so be careful. - Jan 2012
The chain of Healthy Options stores stocks many organic, vegetarian, and allergy-friendly foods. Meats are not widely available in the stores though. Costs are twice that than if you bought the same thing a Whole Foods. - Jul 2011
If you're a vegetarian, this post is miserable. Everything is cooked in pork fat. Meat is key in every meal. Shellfish is ubiquitous, so if you're allergic, exercise a lot of caution. Gluten free & soy alternatives are found in many grocery stores and a store called Healthy Options (Greenbelt and MOA are the 2 I know of -- there are probably other branches). - May 2011
There are a lot of American-imported products with U.S. labeling about allergens. But it's expensive. Vegetarians sometimes have a hard time here. - May 2011
