Traveling abroad requires defensive eating habits. While contaminated food and water is more prevalent in Third World countries, you can suffer from stomach and intestinal problems even in European countries. Approximately 40 percent of all international travelers are afflicted with diarrhea.

Some basic food and water precautions to take, especially when visiting underdeveloped countries:

  1. Do not drink tap water and stay away from ice cubes (almost always made from tap water). Don’t even brush your teeth with tap water. Fortunately bottled water is for sale in most parts of the world.
  2. Bottled or canned beverages - soft drinks, fruit juices, beer, and wine - are usually okay to drink. Boiled beverages, like coffee and tea, are also generally safe.
  3. If you are traveling to remote locations, pack water-purification tablets, iodine, chorine, or water filtration devices to make the water safe. Be sure you the correct use of whatever sanitary method you choose.
  4. Avoid unpasteurized dairy products.
  5. Stay away from raw or undercooked meat and shellfish, unpeelable fruit (like grapes and berries), raw vegetables and salad greens (usually rinsed in local tap water).
  6. Beware of foods sold by street vendors, especially in underdeveloped countries.
  7. Don’t eat sauces, salsas, or anything else that has been sitting on the table for a while.
  8. Avoid food on which flies have settled.

Good common sense should allow you to enjoy all the culinary delights of your trip. Just remember: if you’re not absolutely sure the drinking water is safe, consider it contaminated and act accordingly. As for food: boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it.

KiyaSama is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.

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