Mummy Tummy
 

Is "mummy tummy" an issue in Vietnam and Cambodia? (I didn't have any problems in Egypt, but of course, many do). We do like to eat street food in places where it's part of the national culture.

You mean getting pregnant?

Of course. GI upsets are a possibility in any third world country. Be aware of food and water precautions, take along the medications of your choice for combating symptoms.

Oops sorry, never heard the phrase. Street food should have been my clue.

cold, I was sorry our posts crossed in cyberspace, as I thought your response was just perfect.

Bali Belly, Dehli Belly, Montezuma's revenge - you could do an entire thread on the variations...

Thanks Kathie - I was getting a sick feeling in my stomach looking at my answers.

Delhi Belly - love it! I couldn't think what to call it for SE Asia.

Although loads of locals eat "street food", I have plenty of relatives in India who wouldn't eat it of you paid them. It's Russian roulette - whether you're local or a visitor. The locals are more likely to have the tolerance in their GI system for the bacteria that's in the food - not a guarantee because they get foodborne illnesses (fever, diarrhea, vomiting) too, you just won't know about it.

P.S. Cold, it's always a treat when you post a comment. You have a sense of humor that's delicious and only sounds right when it's from you. :D

That's nice of you Jaya. This is the only place I can try and be funny. My wife now turns up the TV when I start to talk. I have read that's not a good sign.

I'm not sure I understand why "street food" is a problem. If it's fresh off the fire, it should be entirely safe --- the heat cooks everything -- viruses, bacteria, etc., etc., etc. More likely to get sick from eating hotel or restaurant food since you can't see the cooking process. The food might have been sitting in a steam table for far too long.

You are right about hotel food, especially buffets. The issue with street food are things like inadequate refrigeration, lack of hand washing, and using un-fresh cooking oil (it's expensive and tends to get used beyond its prime). So even though things are cooked, you still have to watch out.

It's not that EVERY food stall is lurking with foodborne illness, it's just that getting sick while traveling is awful and as much as I love visiting India, there is always that lingering worry if the meal I just ate is the one that could make me sick. I don't get sick each trip, but it's still a concern that I watch out for.

Cold, something is not right about your marriage. It's the husband who turns up the TV to drown out the wife's talking, not the other way around. Your roles have gotten reversed! Now what are you going to do???

one runs the risk of ruining their holiday by eating street food....why chance it...

indiana, no question, buffets are uh... hotbeds of bacterial proliferation. But one of the problems with street food is that there are not sanitation facilities where the food is being prepared, so contamination from the hands of those cooking or from unclean utensils is a real danger. If, indeed, the food you eat is fresh off the fire, has been cooked to an adequate temp and hasn't been touched by others hands or unsanitary utensils, it should be fine. That's a lot of ifs.

In Malaysia, they put together hawker centers with the street food vendors in a facility with hand and utensil-washing facilities with hot water. It cut the incidence of hepatitis by something like 90%.

Hepatitis A vaccines are a smart idea, even if you don't go out of the US. Hepatitis A is transmitted by food and drink that has been contaminated by (usually a food handler) that has not washed his/her hands after going to the bathroom. It's gross, but that's the cycle of fecal-oral contamination.

The vaccine won't save you from other GI problems, but having protection against hepatitis A can save you months of recovery time.

We will definitely get our Hep A vaccines. Just saw the hawker center(s) for the first time on Top Chef (Singapore), but I guess those don't exist in Vietnam. Okay, you've convinced me to be vigilant -- we'll bring all our food from home :-)

I would suggest to avoid it. Most of streets food vendors here using a lot of MSG (even you said do not put it in, but MSG is already in there from the beginning).