Written by: Tim Snarr
The one thing we all must do when we travel is eat. I’ve had the benefit of travelling all throughout the United States from California to Florida. I’ve also had the experience of living in Northern Peru for two years. Just eating at an unfamiliar fast food place close to home can be daunting sometimes, let alone a street vendor in another country. I am by no means a food or travel expert, but I’ve had successes and failures in my travels with eating and food safety. I’d like to share some of those with you.
As I said, I lived in Peru for 2 years, and I lived the way a local would. I ate at friends’ houses, shopped at local bodegas, and dined from street vendors like a regular Peruvian. The most important thing I learned about food safety I learned while living there. If it makes the locals sick, it will make you sick. And oh boy, did I get sick.
Everything I ate was grown and prepared locally. Only once did I eat at a big chain restaurant. I don’t think the fish burger vendor at the side of the road had a food permit. Still, he had plenty of customers. I was one of them, and I don’t even really care for fish. So that’s tip number one. If there are lots of customers, then the food is likely safe.
One time, a little boy came out of his house and offered me an orange-colored drink. I was thirsty, so I chugged it. I thought his mother had given it to him. Turns out, he had gotten the glass, filled it full of water from a bucket, and put who-knows-what in it to turn it orange. That’s another tip. Bacteria and other biological hazards are found in un-purified water. Make sure that any water you consume has been boiled or treated to kill those pathogens. The next time I was offered a drink, I asked if the water had been boiled. In my apartment in Peru, I used bottled water for my food and hygiene needs, including brushing my teeth. After using untreated water one time to brush my teeth, I had skin peeling off the insides of my cheeks. If you don’t protect yourself even just once, you could end up like me, sick in bed for 8 days, or maybe even worse.
In Peru I had several different cooks who prepared my food. All were excellent cooks, and I only saw an occasional hair in my food. If I found one, I just pulled it out and kept going. That can be very dangerous, however. Hair, fingernails, and other physical hazards like that can not only represent a biological hazard but can be dangerous in their own right. Choking is one of the most common things that can happen from physical hazards present in food. In Peru, I could expect to find a bone, beak, or claw in my chicken soup. There weren’t any stores selling boneless chicken breasts. It was much more rural than where I grew up. Still, I recommend visiting Peru to anyone. Just make sure you know what you’re putting in your mouth.
I love eating in other countries. I appreciate not getting sick from the food adventures I take because of these rules I have learned. Make sure there are a lot of customers and remember that what will make locals sick will affect you as well. Those are my best tips to avoid food-borne illnesses at the table. Eat well!
