Hungry to try some local delicacies while on holiday abroad?
Before you tuck in, heed the handy advice on avoiding food poisoning contained within the pages of Lonely Planet’s Travel Hack Handbook.
In a chapter titled ‘Food Hygiene 101’, ‘easy travel hacks to keep Delhi belly from the door’ are laid out.
Here we reveal some of the key tips. Bon appetit!
ICE
Lonely Planet’s Travel Hack Handbook contains ‘easy travel hacks to keep Delhi belly from the door’
‘Unless you’re 100 per cent certain of the source of the water used to make ice, avoid it,’ says the book.
‘If you insist on ice, stick to upmarket restaurants and international fast-food chains.’
ICE CREAM, EGGS AND DAIRY
‘Ice cream and other milk products can be dodgy,’ warns the book, ‘[so] skip ice cream unless you’re sure it hasn’t been defrosted and refrozen.
‘Avoid unpasteurised milk and uncooked eggs to avoid salmonella, E.coli, listeria and campylobacter.’
FISH AND SEAFOOD
‘How far are you from the sea? Anything over 160km (100 miles) in a tropical country and you’re edging into food-poisoning territory,’ warns the tome.
It adds that if you can see the fish on display, warning signs it’s off include sliminess, a dull colour, a strong smell and cloudy, sunken eyes.
MEAT AND CHICKEN
Keen on red meat? It’s ‘usually safe to eat’, the book says, but it warns to be wary of raw meat ‘unless locals are tucking in without problems’.
Chicken, meanwhile, ‘is more risky’, so ‘always cut pieces open before you bite in to make sure it’s cooked through’.
FRUIT AND SALADS
‘Avoid salads and pre-cut fruit unless you’re sure they’ve been washed in purified water,’ says The Travel Hack Handbook. ‘If you buy your own, peel them yourself.’
Juices? ‘A risky proposition,’ the book adds.
RICE
‘We’re serious,’ declares The Travel Hack Handbook. ‘Reheated rice can be a gamble, as some of the bacteria that grow on rice create toxins that are not destroyed by heating.’
The Travel Hack Handbook (from £12.99) is available from shop.lonelyplanet.com/en-gb or ‘where all good books are sold’.
