Travel Pro Answers #2: @Chefsteve Asks: How Do you Avoid Food Born Illness When Traveling?

Hey there my steemit friends. @chefsteve asks a great question about what are some strategies we can implement to avoid food poisoning while traveling to foreign countries? Steve explained how recently he was in one of my favorite countries Thailand and he got sick from eating some street food.

I personally have never gotten sick from food in any Asian country. Then again I haven't traveled to India yet, where I hear getting sick from the food is almost like a right of passage. Latin America is where I personally have had the most trouble and have had to learn the hard way on more than one occasion. Many travelers I've met agree, Latin America is generally the worst.

What gets us sick and choosing where to eat is key to prevention!

Food born illness so often comes down to cleanliness and hygiene. Many places in developing nations will serve you old rotten food too because they can't afford to throw it out and lose the money. Their stomachs often can handle this anyway, but us from the western world can not. Something that has perished and would be thrown away in our country often will be served in a developing nation.

So number one is no matter what country you are in choose where to eat based on the cleanliness, professionalism, and how busy the place is. If it looks grimy then it's best to chose another place. Depending on where in the world you are, sometimes every place will look grimy! In this situation go by who is eating at the restaurant, and how busy they are, there for the food will likely be fresh and safe to eat.

If possible get a recommendation from a traveler that's been there a while. Seldom take a recommendation from a local. Often they will point you to their cousin's restaurant just so they can get the business; or simply they can digest the food no problem where we can not and just don't understand.

Choosing Street Food

Now you don't have to eat at a restaurant, there are other alternatives all together. I personally like street food and almost never have a problem with it. Even though this is exactly what got Chef Steve sick. I'm very careful about my selection. I eat a lot of coconuts and fruit from street vendors and often stay away from meat, as that can be old and they'll serve it anyway like mentioned.

When to eat is also an important decision. Early morning and early evening are the best times to visit street vendors in any country. At these times they are setting up shop and the food is the freshest. During peak hours for breakfast, lunch, and diner are best for restaurants.

Once it's nearing the end of their work day raw meat could be sitting around warm for hours. Sometimes it's left in the hot sun with flies and so on. Combine this with handling it with dirty hands, dropped on the floor, wiping their nose, exchanging money; that's when you run into problems.

My personal favorite street foods in South East Asia are fried bananas, fresh pineapple, and jack fruit! Which you see in the photo above. You certainly won't go wrong with any of this stuff. The pork and chicken sticks in these countries is probably your riskiest selection. Any kind of seafood and cheap prepared curries as well. This doesn't mean don't eat that at all. If it looks clean, fresh, and there is a line of people waiting to get some; you should be fine.

Another play-it-safe strategy is eating at a chain restaurant or eating prepared food at a western style super market. Also it seems like just about every country I've ever been to has some popular chain restaurant that roasts chicken. Going to a place that does roasted chicken is one of the safest bets you can make.

Another safe move along these lines is find a McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, or some sort of fast food joint. I don't recommend eating this kind of food in general, but it's a heck of a lot better than getting food poisoning or even taking the chance if you are unsure. If you are in a large enough city there will most likely be a McDonald's somewhere. I actually have eaten more McDonalds in Ecuador and Colombia than anywhere else in the world. I just didn't want to risk getting ill.

Never eat prepared food in an open air market in most of Latin America!

South East Asia Just Be Careful.

I've spent a lot of time in Ecuador several years ago, and recall getting violently ill on more than one occasion. The worst was when I foolishly ate some fried fish in an open air market. I was hugging the toilet for two days. I thought I was going to die.

Never eat prepared meals at an open air market, that's like rolling the dice with 50/50 odds. These are often the most unsanitary places you can get a meal period and often the cheapest. Don't cheap out, it's totally not worth the risk.

What about buying meat and produce from open air markets?

I totally recommend buying fresh fruit and vegetables at these open air markets. The prices, quality, and selection are often incredible. Meat is good too if you come around 7-9 am and tell them in Spanish you want meat from this morning (not yesterdays old stuff). "Quiro carne de hoy manana, por favor". Since there is no refrigeration don't buy after 9am to play it safe.

Latin American food in general?

In most Latin American countries minus a few exceptions including touristy areas in Mexico; eating out I find a real disappointment unless it's a specialty restaurant run by a foreigner. Typical Latino food from Guatemala south even if good quality is a thin piece of grilled meat, a soup with a bunch of bones and maybe chicken's feet, a few slices of lettuce, a slice of avocado, and a huge pile of white rice, beans, and maybe some fried plantains; accompanied by a sugary juice or cola.

Not my kind of diet. There is hardly a nutritious vegetable in sight and it's like 80% filler food of white rice. In fact I was talking with the cleaning lady today and I told her I don't eat out because it's always a ton of white rice. She says in Spanish, "I know", then points to the spare tire around her waste and laughs, then compliments me on staying thin and healthy.

Cook it yourself!

In Latin America I'm so unimpressed by the quality of their food that I often employ this strategy and simply go grocery shopping in western style supermarkets and cook for myself. In my 12 dollar a night hotel here in Guayaquil Ecuador I've got a little fridge in my room and I purchased an electric burner and pot. I've been preparing all my own meals including fresh fruit, almonds, walnuts, and coffee for breakfast too. I simply don't trust the food here in Ecuador or most of Latin America for that matter.

Last night I made a 28 oz rib-eye streak, top quality I got a Mega Maxi for seven dollars. This is the high end super market chain here in Ecuador. I made it with sauteed onions, portabelo mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, and zucchini in a red wine sauce. You can't find that even in the best restaurants in this country. So sometimes you have to be proactive and take control of the situation. Not only will you avoid getting sick you can make yourself really good quality meals like you see here. It's very Travel Pro!

I'm so proud of the quality of food I make in my room I'm going to start a series "Travel Pro Hotel Cooking". I think @chefsteve will be impressed as I used to be a chef too. I was a private chef for six months for a family in Up-State New York. In my early 20s during my years teaching English in South Korea, I studied every Jamie Oliver cooking video I could download. I watched them twice and took notes. As far as my career as a chef, I quit to go travel again as that's my true passion.

What to immediately do if you start to feel sick?

This is some very valuable information. With the slightest onset of food poising gulp down a bunch of colloidal silver, then 20 minutes later take some activated charcoal pills. Repeat in an hour and you should kill the germ before you even really get sick. This has certainly saved my rear literally on more than one occasion. I normally travel with the colloidal silver but don't have any now (hence no photo). I have the charcoal pills just need to find some more colloidal silver.

If it's too little to late and you're sick throwing up and the whole nine yards; get to a pharmacy and get ciprofloxacin. This is an antibiotic specific for nasty stomach bacteria, which is most likely the culprit. Since antibiotics are over the counter in every non-western country just go to a pharmacy and they will sell it to you right away.

A better alternative is colloidal silver, if you can get your hands on this it kills the bad bacteria and will mostly bypass killing the good stomach bacteria. Pharmaceutical antibiotics will kill everything. Drink lots of fluids, and take activated charcoal pills which will bind toxins and bad bacteria assisting your body's process of eliminating it out the other end.

Once you start getting an appetite back, start eating chicken soup. I'd recommend getting a fresh chicken leg at the supermarket and boiling it in your room for at least four hours while you rest. The broth of a chicken has natural anti-biotic properties. Maybe a little potato and carrot can go in your soup too. Salt and pepper to taste; or get this at restaurant you trust. Also purchase some bananas for the next morning's breakfast. For the next couple weeks eat fermented food like quality yogurt and pickles, or take a pro-biotic supplement to help repopulate your good gut bacteria.

Don't get sick, take matters into your own hands!

These strategies can be applied to any country in the world. I'm talking a lot about Latin America because I've had many problems here. I have also heard of one horror story after another from fellow travelers. In this part of the world I take matters into my own hands! This is really the only sure way not to get sick. This is also one main reason why I like Asia better than South America in general. In Asia the food illness issue really is not an issue at all in comparison.

Thank you @chefsteve for asking such a good question. All my steemit friends keep an eye out for my Travel Pro Hotel Cooking Series and thank you so much for reading. If you find this article useful and informative please consider sharing. Until next time -Dan "World Travel Pro!"

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