Food in Laos

Sticky rice is soaked and steamed in a huad, a traditional sticky-rice steamer, then stored and served in a katip khao, a woven rice basket. A typical meal combines sticky rice with larb, a seasoned fish, meat and herb salad, jaew dipping sauce, raw or fresh vegetables and herbs, soup and seasonal fruit. Common foods include rice, vegetables, meat, freshwater fish and other aquatic foods, roots, tubers, maize, fruit and herbs. Padaek is fermented fish sauce used for seasoning. Tam mak hung, kaeng no mai, or lam, khai pan, ping kai and sai gok Lao are established dishes, but there is no single uniform national menu. Ingredients, preparation and dish names vary with province, season and ethnic food traditions. Pho and spring rolls are also widely available, especially in urban areas. Households may produce food for their own use, buy it at village or municipal markets, or eat at restaurants and street-food stalls. Vientiane has a broad multicultural offer that includes Lao, Vietnamese and Yunnanese-Chinese food, while rural areas often depend more on local and seasonal supplies. Luang Prabang is associated with foods such as or lam, jaew bong and khai pan. Northern Laos has more upland-rice and food-deficit areas and greater dependence on imports; central and southern Laos have larger lowland rice-producing areas, including dry-season production. Floods, landslides, drought, transport conditions and exchange-rate changes can affect availability and prices. Rice remains the main staple. A 2025 paddy forecast estimated about 3.6 million tonnes, with roughly 90% from the wet season and 10% from irrigated dry-season production. Central and southern production was above the five-year average, while northern production was below average after weather-related damage. Food prices are not represented by one verified nationwide menu or household price list. Rice prices were especially volatile from 2023 through 2025, and imported-food and input costs were affected by currency depreciation. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce monitors essential-goods prices and consumer complaints, but actual costs depend on province, market access, season and the food purchased. Food access is also a nutrition issue. Research indicates that about 80% of the population could not afford a healthy diet, moderate or severe food insecurity affected about 32%, and child stunting affected about 33% of children under five. Diets face a dual burden: undernutrition remains widespread while ultra-processed snacks, instant noodles, sugary drinks and fast food are becoming more common. Nationally representative dietary data found that about 73% of women aged 15 and older met minimum dietary diversity, but only about 27% of adults consumed foods from all five recommended food groups. Common gaps include pulses, nuts, seeds and whole grains. A 2025 study found that about one quarter of children under two consumed unhealthy foods, about 30% consumed sugary drinks and about 32% consumed no fruit or vegetables. National dietary guidance is fragmented rather than represented by one clearly current, publicly indexed consumer guide; available policy guidance emphasizes diverse food groups, animal-source foods, legumes, vegetables, fruit, iodized salt, breastfeeding and suitable complementary feeding. Food safety applies from farms and fisheries to household meals, markets and food businesses. The Food Law 33/NA of 24 July 2013 covers this farm-to-table chain. The Ministry of Health, including the Food and Drug Department, works with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Department of Livestock and Fisheries, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and provincial and district public-health offices. The National Center of Food and Drug Analysis supports testing. Food businesses need hygienic premises and handling, safe storage and transport, traceability, cooperation with inspections and procedures for recalls. Formal food businesses generally complete Industry and Commerce filing after technical approval by the Ministry of Health and then register food products. Imported food requires a Ministry of Health permit, risk-based border inspection and origin, quality and safety documents. Street vendors are covered by food-safety law and should follow good hygienic practice. Restaurants, markets, hotels, schools, hospitals and food services for weddings or other events also fall under safety and hygiene requirements. Tourist food services should display menus and prices clearly. Practical risks increase where clean water, sanitation, refrigeration, laboratories, inspections and reliable labels are limited. Labels may use Lao or a major international language. Washing produce, using clean utensils, cooking meat, fish and shellfish thoroughly, and keeping food protected during storage and transport reduce risk. After flood contact, discard affected food and boil drinking water for at least three minutes. Unsafe food or suspected foodborne illness can be reported to public-health offices or local administration; consumer-protection complaints can also go through the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Consumers have rights to safe, quality food, accurate ingredient and storage information, protection from deception, return of unsafe food and compensation where applicable. Unsafe food may be seized or destroyed. Food production is linked to livelihoods, climate resilience and environmental protection. Laos’s National Action Plan for Transition toward Sustainable Food Systems Transformation 2025–2030 contains 20 strategic areas and 62 milestones, led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. Rice-fish and integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems can diversify diets, provide fish protein and micronutrients, reduce some chemical inputs, improve water and nitrogen use, support biodiversity and soil regeneration, and strengthen resilience to climate shocks. Their expansion is constrained by access to fish seed, finance, irrigation, roads, markets and protection from climate damage. No verified national food-waste measure establishes a single countrywide total.