Mexico called worst for vegan travel

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., July 18 (UPI) -- Vegans and vegetarians traveling abroad will encounter the most dietary problems in Mexico, the U.S. Web site VirtualTourist.com says.

The California Web site's members and editors, in a release friday, named what it says are "top five worst places for vegans and vegetarians" for 2009.

"While vegetarians may have trouble with the country's meat dishes, it's nothing in comparison to the difficulty the abundance of cheese poses for vegans," the organization said.

Coming in second was Spain, where, VirtualTourist.com said, "vegetarians report that confusion over what actually constitutes meat (i.e. pig vs. cow) is what causes many of the problems."

The third-place finisher was Germany, where, one Web site member said, even vegetable dishes somehow seem to include bacon, while fourth-place finisher Cuba drew the comment that even the rice "would arrive with small pieces of pork in it."

Rounding out VirtualTourist.com's top five worst vegetarian countries was a mash-up of central Asian nations, where, one member wrote, "Even the 'vegetable soup' (has) a large chunk of meat lurking at the bottom."