Advice for travelling foodies

If travel broadens your mind then it certainly enhances your palate as you sample all kinds of weird and wonderful cuisine, often for the very first time. It can be an exciting experience as you submerge yourself fully into a different culture. Lurking, though, at the back of the mind of every traveller is afear of becoming ill as a result of eating something you probably should have avoided.
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To help anybody planning a trip abroad any time soon we’ve put together a few helpful hints regarding food and drink. Just to be on the safe side, it’s also advisable to arm yourself with worldwide travel insurance that’ll give you access to free medical assistance should you need it for whatever reason, with websites such as moneysupermarket offering some of the cheapest deals available online.

Maintaining a high standard of personal hygiene is important, especially in hot and humid countries,so be sure to pack a travel-sized antiseptic hand wash or hand wipes so you clean up before it’s time to tuck into some wholesome food. You want to make certain that your hands are nice and clean if you’re going to be handling any foodstuffs and that you’ve done all you can to reduce the likelihoodof contaminated any food yourself.

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The next step is to pick where you should and shouldn’t eat, which in itself can be difficult depending on where in the world you are. Be cautious about buying food from stalls on the side of the road because while the vendors may look to be cooking up a treat, it’s better to err on the side of caution as you have no way of knowing whether the food has been reheated and in what conditions the food has been stored. Trust your gut instincts, if you’ll pardon the turn of phrase. If the offer of cheap food seems too good to be true then that may be because it is, so avoid taking unnecessary culinary risks.

Try and eat in places where you can watch the food being cooked from fresh right before your eyes and check that when it arrives that it’s piping hot. This should hopefully ensure that any potentially-dangerous bacteria is killed off during the cooking. Common sense will go a long way and if you tend to check if things like meat have been cooked properly right through at home then do likewise while away on your travels. Don’t be afraid to send back food that you think may be undercooked. Again,it’s better to be safe than sorry, particularly when one dodgy bite to eat could possibly ruin a trip away.

Give any food that has been left uncovered a wide berth as all sorts of bugs may have landed on them and you never know how long it has been sat there for, while uncooked food is also best avoided.

Keeping hydrated is crucial to ensure your body can function correctly so drink only bottled water and drink responsibly if you enjoy any alcoholic beverages. Never drink water from the tap and also remember to use bottled water only when it’s time to clean your teeth in the morning and at night.On the theme of using clean water, give ice cubes a miss in drinks.

To avoid anything being lost in translation, have a phrasebook to hand to help you determine what it is you’re actually ordering off a menu. At least this way you can work out at the very least what typeof meat a certain dish contains so you don’t get a nasty surprise when it arrives on your plate. Never be afraid to ask either in a polite fashion.