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How to prevent food poisoning on vacation?

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
 
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03 August 2012, 15:40

During travel, everyone is eager to try food from different countries and experiment with local cuisine. However, in most cases this leads to food poisoning. What should a tourist know in order not to spoil the impression of rest and return to his native land alive and healthy? Scientists have prepared a number of recommendations, following which one can avoid the summer misfortune. This is reported in the journal Health, Diet & Fitness.

Traveler's Diarrhea

In the first place among the causes of poor health during the holidays is diarrhea of travelers (impaired function of the gastrointestinal tract in new arrivals to another climatic zone of persons). According to some reports, 30-70% of vacationers become victims of diarrhea regardless of their place of residence. Usually everyone believes that avoiding problems with the gastrointestinal tract can be followed by a simple recommendation - to weld and clean products or not at all to think of anything bad, but research scientists have shown that this advice does not work, and tourists still have diarrhea travelers. Poor hygiene in local restaurants is one of the most frequent risk factors for travelers' diarrhea.

How to prevent food poisoning on vacation?

Avoid tap water

According to scientists, this is the most common way of transmission of foodborne infection. You should avoid eating like "pani puri", or "goal gappa" (street food in India: potato cubes, chickpeas and tomatoes in a basket of dough fried in deep fried, served with sauce). When preparing it, use tap water. "Foods and juices can be very tasty, but the effect will not be the most pleasant: food poisoning or chronic diarrhea. Even a minimal intake of contaminated water can cause a person to writhe in pain, "experts write.

trusted-source[1], [2], [3]

How to quench your thirst during the journey?

You can buy bottled water, juice from popular manufacturers. "As for tea, if the cooking uses boiled water, the tourist has nothing to worry about. We recommend travelers to stock up with water-cleaning tablets, which disinfect water and preserve its taste qualities. They are often used in places where there are no vending machines, "the authors of the article advise.

Consumption of raw vegetables and fruits

Raw vegetables and fruits can be safely consumed in restaurants that observe all sanitary and hygienic standards. "If you are in the rainy season, then you need to give up raw vegetables and fruits. Rains, unsanitary conditions and bacteria ... All this will lead to sad consequences. All vegetables and fruits should be thoroughly washed, cleaned and cooked. So you can avoid the risk of catching an eating infection. It should also be abandoned the use of street food in countries where hygiene rules are not controlled, products left open for a long time.

trusted-source[4], [5], [6], [7], [8],

Travel Tips:

  • explore the area around the restaurant
  • refuse dishes where eggs are used without cooking and milk (need cooling and they can not be stored at room temperature)
  • drink plenty of water (1.5-2 liters per day)
  • eat only boiled food
  • give preference to fruits with skin
  • use dairy products past pasteurized.

Physicians note that travelers should have a first aid kit. So, among the preparations for normalization of the gastrointestinal tract on vacation, sorbents will be needed - drugs that slacken the stool, enzyme preparations that promote enhanced digestion of food, and drugs that normalize the intestinal microflora (they actively produce acids, are harmful to salmonella, staphylococcus and causative agents of dysentery and hamper the development long intestinal disorders with all the unpleasant consequences).

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