Street food is an integral part of life, especially while traveling. If you truly cherish your traveling experience, always try some delicious street food. Trigger your taste buds with something delicious from the specific region and grab some fascinating insights into the ingredients used in local dish preparation. However exciting it might sound, some travelers remain scared to try street food due to hygiene issues. The fear is usually real as no one desires to have an infected stomach during traveling. But, if you highly want a captivating travel experience, you have to give it a try to street food. Thus we have prepared the below tips to guide you to enjoy the tasty street food without getting sick.
Food should be fresh.
While traveling, only focus on freshly prepared foods like omelets, salads, and more to pose low risk. Certain vendors make sure to reheat their snacks just by frying the items again as it helps in killing off the bacteria. But, if the smell of oil is bad then do not eat those items. The burnt and repeatedly used oil can lead to various stomach issues.
Eat at famous stalls.
The safest way to enjoy street food without getting sick is to eat at stalls with long waiting lines. Always ensures the cleanliness and reliability of the stall as customers will never wait for flavorless and contaminated food.
Eat where locals go.
If you are searching for delicious street food, you can entirely rely on locals’ advice and taste the food. Locals will know which street vendor in the area provides good quality and delicious food. Tourists always follow the local’s advice and never regret it.
Prevent drinking from tap water
Dirty and contaminated water is the primary cause of stomach problems. So always avoid loosely sold cold drinks as they might include contaminated ice cubes. Ensure to prevent the intake of cold coffee, milkshakes, and other things due to contamination issues. Instead, you can sip hot tea or coffee. In this case, there is no danger as the vendors heat it at a high temperature. Make sure to ask for hot drinks in paper or recyclable cups.
Do not consume cut salad and fruits.
Never consume before-cut fruits and raw vegetables because vendors often use unsafe tap water to wash them. Always intake cooked vegetables and peelable fruits to prevent food poisoning. Peelable fruits such as oranges, bananas, mango, melons, and pineapple are safe.
Check for cleanliness
Cleanliness should be of utmost importance. Thus, avoid eating at a stall if its plates, utensils, chopping boards, glasses, knives, and other things are dirty. No matter how fresh the street food is, contaminated utensils could lead to food-borne illness. Use sanitizing wipes to wipe spoons and plates and remove any dirt. The stall should be away from the garbage dump.
Eat vegetarian food
If you are afraid of an upset stomach while traveling, stick to vegetarian cuisine only, as non-vegetarian food can cause illness. Certain street vendors source their meat from shops that hang it outside. You will never know how long the meat is out on the vendor’s table. So, it is good to keep away from non-vegetarian food to avoid illness.
Prevent eating particular items
Avoid consumption of dairy products if you are traveling during monsoon and summertime. Sometimes street vendors do not have refrigeration, and the food items kept at room temperature for too long can attract bacteria. It could result in severe food poisoning that can be highly dangerous.
Prevent intake of too much spice
Avoid intake of too much spice while traveling as it possesses mild laxative effects. To experience memorable travel, eat steamed dishes such as momos.
Avoid overeating
Street food is enticing and mouth-watering, but that does not mean you can overeat it. So, avoid overeating as the stomach cannot process spicy, unfamiliar, and fried food. Overeating can lead to the biggest disaster on your trip.
Avoid eating in the rainy season.
During the rainy season, street food is not good for health as flies, mosquitoes, and bees can contaminate the food in the open. During damp weather, lots of bacterial growth can harm your health and result in hazardous situations.
Avoid deep-fried things
As street vendors need to prepare food in bulk, they heat a massive amount of oil for preparation and use oil for many days. It can be bad for your health and lead to serious illness.
Keep medication ready
To avoid sickness due to street food, make sure to be ready with basic medicines or take the medicines beforehand to fall sick.
Bottom line
Never leave your traveling diaries with any regret. Thus try out every adventure and local cuisine of an unknown country to explore correctly. But, this delicious food also includes certain risks. So you need to remain extra careful and follow the above tips. Your health is in your hands, so protect it from getting disturbed by unhygienic and unhealthy food.