Eating Advice: How to Avoid Getting Sick!

Hello Oldladyman,

While I wrote this topic posting for Brazil, I'm sure you'll find it very helpful. The information it contains is probably accurate for all Latin-American countries.

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=155142

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team

I am amazed at some of these postings. I don't mean to be judgmental or critical but  with apologies to Shakespeare, "much ado about nothing".  There is simply no way to cross every "t" and dot every "i". i.  Usually it is the water
that gets one in   trouble traveling not the food.  I am deathly allergic to shell fish (ie 20 minutes to an ER  or else!) but I have managed to travel on 6 continents without a problem. I eat from street vendors in Playas frequently but I never drink "local" water, always bottled mineral water   or  beer when out and about.  Some venues    may not have bottled water but every one has beer!  I never drank beer in the US but it is a precaution worth taking. Bottled spring water in my home.   I have been in Morocco............much more of a third world country than here.  Carpe Diem!

Thanks appreciate your thoughts. Trying not to be too cocky. I followed the bottled water rule in Morocco but ate some watery goat cheese that within a really short time had me in the bathroom and kept my stomach out of order for at least a few weeks....

Anne,

Food related illness when we travel can range from minor inconvenience all the way up to a fatality. It's hardly "much ado about nothing" to be concerned about what we eat and drink, especially in developing nations where there may be lax food handling standards, absence of inspection, and shoddy sanitary systems.

Just because we may not be able to dot every "i"and cross every "t" doesn't necessarily mean we should simply give up without trying to take care of some of them.

Water is far from being the only problem, trust me.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team

Cheers James. I appreciate you making me feel less foolish for trying to avoid getting sick as well as keeping the forum open to all kinds of questions!

Speaking as a retired medical person. I would say avoid the street venders for obvious reasons. They do not have easy access to water for hand washing, or bathrooms. They handle the food and money, and money is one of the dirtiest things around. Just wash of your fruits and veggies no special solution needed., as you should do anywhere. I just dip them in soapy water with vinegar and rinse. You do not know who handled that food, and if they washed their hands. Do these basic health practices and you should avoid contamination with bacteria or parasites. Be particularly cautious with peanuts because there is no way they can be cleaned.

From my observation food is a much larger problem than water. There are many bottled water sources. Find restaurants you can depend on, if you eat out, and if you eat in, cook food that needs cooking well, and buy from reliable sources, The sanitation practices in markets and restaurants are actually quite good here . I wipe things down with hydrogen peroxide that can't be washed , like outer wraps of packages, and of course the counter tops at home.

Thanks for your advice as well. I appreciate it:)

I did read somewhere not to eat the strawberries in Mexico as they are irrigated with sewage water??  Though i have no idea if that applies to all area's of Mexico?  It was off a well known travellers blog i read that on.

There are 42 pesticides on non organic strawberries in the U.S. The strawberries here are wonderful. Soak them for a minute in soapy water with vinegar, rinse and enjoy. I think that was likely dated advice  you read. I have been eating them after rinsing them for years with no problems.

I eat strawberries all the time, however I do soak them with water and a couple of drops of any commercial purifier. If its not available a drop of bleach per 500ml of water should do the trick.

Yogurt every morning. The type with active cultures will work the best. You might try starting this regimen a few weeks in advance before the trip. Prep your stomach and intestines. Only time I got sick was eating a shrimp cocktail in the middle of July. I should have checked if it was iced down, but I didn't.

Now the yogurt won't prevent every illness, nor steel you from the worst of food, but good street food can be enjoyed. If you are tempted by street food, buy from vendors that have a long line of Mexicans eating there. They know.

So you can shower and wash clothes in tap water. How about wash dishes and silverware?

It just bugles the mind that the same old stereotypical always comes up about Mexico and food and/or water. Just how many ecoli cases was there last year in Canada and the US, Have you ever had your bottle water tested in a lab. Guess what just for fun I have, and believe you Me it is not as pure as you think. Those commercial on TV about hepatitis is just that a commercial made to sell a product that most people do not need. Fear sells, and makes for good profits. Go around south and central America, then go to Asia, and most other not so lucky counties. what do you see, 60 and 70 years old working the fields, gran-Ma in the kitchen in a local cantina, there are very few "fat" people in those countries. Now look at the modern world. Morbidly obese people, even teenagers are huge. People visiting hospital for a common cold. Every time someone gets sick they blame it on food poisoning. Perhaps it is the life that you have chosen to live that is the problem. I am 60 years old, sail a 43 footer solo, been around the world twice and eat and drink what the locals eat. I am 5'8" 160 Lbs walk about 5 miles a day, swim almost daily.
SOOOOOOO please stop blame Mexican food for your ills, look inside for answer, do not try to blame others for your problems.

Wow, this forum is so volatile. I was hoping it would be a resource for travelers to help each other.

Soak everything you plan to eat at home first,  Be wary of street foods.  I once watched an fresh squeezed oj  seller wash his  juice squeezer in a dirty public fountain in front of city hall in Centro Cancun, Mexico.

Ignore these people that have to beat their chest .... that's just the Internet

Acidophilus yogurt is not available everywhere, but Yakult is a good replacement.  For uncooked fruit and veggies soak in water with a few drops of Microdyn.  Use tap water for everything but drinking.

For street food go where it's busy, not to one with nobody there. I was on the road, stopped for the night and ate at a street stand that was just opening. They must have left something from the day before because I had the runs within hours

I just hate it when people think that everything is contaminated in Mexico. I have been to New- York, and let me tell you that it is not all that sanitary there in some places

Thats true, but the honest to God truth is that people acustomed to drinking tap water will get sick if they drink from the tap in most mexican cities, even us mexicans almost never do. Most of us buy drinking water. I eat street food quite often and almos never get sick. You have to take into account that our inmune systems are well used to it, Most tourist I've invited on a food tour handle spicy food very well and don't get sick from bacterial infections, One thing I'm sure of is they all have something good to say about our food.

I saw that recently about strawberries, too, on a well known travel show. All fruit is irrigated the same but because strawberries are so porous you can't easily clean them at a street vendors booth. Soaking them at home with bleach would make them safe.
Building up your gut flora will help and nothing beats fermented food like sauerkraut. It has so many more probiotics than yogurt. Kombucha and kefir help with different strains, too. We're all looking forward to sampling street vendor's food, and just using caution and prudence like you would anywhere.

islandgirlagain wrote:

I saw that recently about strawberries, too, on a well known travel show. All fruit is irrigated the same but because strawberries are so porous you can't easily clean them at a street vendors booth. Soaking them at home with bleach would make them safe.
Building up your gut flora will help and nothing beats fermented food like sauerkraut. It has so many more probiotics than yogurt. Kombucha and kefir help with different strains, too. We're all looking forward to sampling street vendor's food, and just using caution and prudence like you would anywhere.

I am a retired medical professional with a holistic background, Bleach is not some thing I would advise anyone to consume, wash food in or put on your skin. Strawberries soaked briefly in soppy water with vinegar should be just fine. I don't advise eating at vender stalls because of obvious sanitation issues, They handle money, food, money again and then there is handwashing and bathroom questions unanswered Observe them awhile and see how much hand washing is being done ? I have never seen any. And no those alcohol preps are not the answer.

As for sauerkraut, kombucha etc. You will have a very hard time finding authentic versions of that here. You would have to make your own I make my own fermented cabbage. There are alternative foods the locals use. There is also an herb the locals who frequent the venders take to eliminate parasites. Parasites are one of the biggest vender risks.

Wherever there are groups of people with different opinions you will find some volatility, it's just a given, it's everywhere today. But be patient there is good information from people with experience also.

Well, I've been here for almost a week and arrived full of warnings and information from blogs and forums snarled in my head and am glad to say that so far I haven't gotten sick. Yesterday I went to a cafe in the city center and ate enchiladas covered in cheese and mole sauce and ate just ate and was fine. I buy coffee in the convenience store on the corner, but am soaking veggies I bought the other day in biopure infused bottled water not to be cocky. Life in DF so far is going smoothly. Thanks all for sharing!

You'll always find people who are going to give you anecdotal information like, "I always drink the water and have never been sick" or "Never had food poisoning and I eat street food all the time." That very well may be true for them, but that in no way means that others won't have serious problems. Those individuals may simply have cast iron stomachs and be in perfect health otherwise, or they've just been incredibly lucky.

Taking reasonable precautions with food and beverages when you travel is part and parcel of world travel, not only to Mexico, but to most countries. Ridiculing people who take precautions or ask what precautions they should take is not only unproductive, but also extremely disrespectful. Perhaps you're a vegetarian or vegan, would you appreciate jabs and ridicule if you were to post your questions here? What about if you had some special dietary needs?

More of our members should subscribe to the T-H-I-N-K principles of internet when posting here:

T - Is it true?  If you're not absolutely certain then don't post it.
H - Is it helpful? Again, if the answer is no then keep your fingers off the keyboard.
i  -  Is it informative? Yes... then post away!
N - Is it necessary? If so go for it, if not don't bother.
K - Is it KIND? If you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything, as my dear old dad would have said.

While it's true that you can pick up food-borne illnesses in any country and even in the most developed cities on earth, you're much more likely to have problems when you travel, simply because what you eat and drink are not the norm for you.

Like the old saying goes... "When in Rome do as the Romans do." When you travel this hold quite true when it comes to food and drink. If the locals are all buying bottled water and refuse ice cubes, then there's a darned good reason for them doing so. If they avoid certain eating places, ditto! However that does not necessarily translate into, go ahead and eat whatever they eat either. Just remember that's the norm for them and they've had years for their systems to adjust to those eating habits. It's not the norm for you and your body may not adapt to a radical change in diet overnight.

For those of you who are inclined to point fingers and make snide comments on how dumb it is to ask such questions about one's diet... PLEASE. Keep those comments to yourself. If you don't have anything CONSTRUCTIVE to post pass on to another topic, all of our other members will appreciate it greatly.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

I'm not about to contradict anything Travellight recommends, it's solid.

I have found that the locals know which stalls are safe.
Even fresh cut cubed fruit is safe if bought from a cart where the preparer never touches it with his hands, packs it, covers it and let's a helper handle the money who never touches the fruit.

As far as sit down restaurants go, again the locals know, and I stick to places that obviously look clean and are popular.

There's also a bit of folklore that seems to be true.

A generous amount of limon juice kills anything.  Some of my friends use a commercial disinfectant solutions called Microdyn available in all the chain stores.  Just follow the directions on the little bottle.

Do most restaurants automatically serve drinks with ice? Is that something you have to remember to ask about?  Such a bummer for me, although a small one, as we all love iced tea, lol.  Do most expats just get accustomed to not having ice in drinks anymore? Oh, and what about mixed drinks?? Margaritas... With no ice! yikes, lol.

I have never been in a restaurant in Mexico that served soft drinks with ice.  You had to ask for it.
Mixed drinks that call for ice in the recipe have ice in them.

Things like rum and coke, 7 and 7, highballs in general, better ask.  If they forget, they'll be happy to bring a separate glass full of ice.

Iced tea has not been too widely available on menus,  It's getting more popular in areas that attract tourists.  Even if it's not on the menu, most restaurants will make it for you.  Careful though.  If you want something like Liptons, you have to specify black tea, "te negro,"

I think ice depends on location. I know the area here, and I have talked to businesses I frequent about water sources. Sometimes I ask for ice, sometimes I don't. I would not automatically ask for ice while traveling.
The tourist areas , in standard restaurants are pretty safe. After all they wouldn't want their hotel tourist customer to get ill. It's the little neighborhood restaurant you might want to be more careful with. It might be fine for the locals, but your system may have a problem with new bacteria.

True.  In small taco places and the like, I tend to stick with beer or soft drinks in the bottle.

Restaurants are a risk everywhere! They sell little blue bottles of disinfectant for fruits and veggies in every supermarket in Mexico, and there must be a reason for that. I always disinfect and never have problems. Better safe than sorry! Although I don't know about the "soapy water" business - who would want to eat strawberries that tasted like soap, or anything for that matter?

jeanfinney wrote:

Restaurants are a risk everywhere! They sell little blue bottles of disinfectant for fruits and veggies in every supermarket in Mexico, and there must be a reason for that. I always disinfect and never have problems. Better safe than sorry! Although I don't know about the "soapy water" business - who would want to eat strawberries that tasted like soap, or anything for that matter?

soap acts as a surfactant , it pulls dirty away from surfaces, vinegar helps reduce pesticides.. One would assume you would a.) not use large amounts of soap and b.) rinse after soaking for a few minutes. So you fruit will not taste like soap. And it certainly beats tasting like bleach which should not be consumed and remains on whatever you put it on for long periods of time, It's classed as a : textile/lamdty bleaching agent, hard surface cleaner
Hazard Classification: Oxidizer, unstable (reactive), corrosive, lung toxin  disinfectant.

As for the spray bottles in the market, they are based on fear and they became popular in the U.S. So of course Mexico is trying them also. They are there because they sell. They are not needed anymore than the disinfectant soaps and disinfectant personal care products as well as the  alcohol wipes.  Just soap and water should be your first defense.

I am not talking about the spray bottles, that has nothing to do with it. In every fruit and vegetable section and often at checkout they sell those little blue bottles, iodine based. You haven't noticed them? If you put the correct amount in the soak water, there is no taste. And they last a long time. I seriously recommend this process, especially for produce eaten raw. Vegetables cooked for over 15 minutes would have harmful bacteria destroyed. Soap leaves a film, very hard to rinse off. That is why in subtropical climates like India they do not like to use soap to wash - it is quite noticeable in those climes. I would certainly not want to ingest it!

Oh yes I have seen the small bottles also. they are Microdyn and Bacdyn, both of which contain the active ingredient ionized silver.  Iodine could be a health risk because iodine can be toxic "The use of iodine for water disinfection requires a risk-benefit decision based on iodine's benefit as a disinfectant "  There was a reason they stopped using it as a routine skin prep. As for soap, I guess it depends on the soap and the water. The mild dish soap I use rinses clean. You must rinse all soap off and some are inclined to leave a film especially if they are body shampoos.

My point was you don't need all of the special chemicals to rinse your fruits and vegetables.

1982, Saltillo, Mexico, we walked into a grocery store that turned out to be run by a government agency for employees.  Nevertheless, we were welcomed and asked the ladies waiting to checkout what they used for disinfecting fruit.  100% used dishwashing detergent, dilute.

Hmmm....I wonder if there is a really safe, natural solution....

Oh well, Raw string beans I bought at a rough and tumble neighborhood market have done me in. Soaked them in biopure but they were not fully immersed, were just kind of floating on top and maybe weren't really clean enough to be eaten? Burning rumbling stomach nausea etc. Montezuma strikes my 18th day.

Lomotil is still available.  It's an old time remedy that worked.  it has pro's and con's.  Google it for information.  a written prescription is not necessary.
loperamida is one of the ingredients in Imodium.

Unfortunately you have to keep moving veggies that float to get them covered completely and repeatedly.  The lady who comes in to clean once a week does that for me voluntarily.
We've all had our bouts with Moctezuma's revenge, I'd guess.

Just weak now. Was still semi able to do my regular daily activities. I think I got off lucky but will do more thorough veggie cleansing in the days ahead!

For now explain the problem at a pharmacy, they will probably recommend Neomicina Caolin y pectina, it seems to deal pretty well with diarrhea.

Over time your body adjusts to the new bugs and you become pretty resistant. Different food grown in different soil requires adjustment to different bugs.

Peanuts are one of the worst offenders but then green beans can be tricky also. I would stick to the items that clean easily and eat bland until you feel better.

A little known fact about Microdyn is that it is an anti-fungal medication. Better than any you would find at the farmacia.