Whether it be short or long term travel, going around the world comes with a ton of risks, especially when traveling on a budget.
Hong Kong for example can be an expensive city to visit, since it is a major business center. Although you can find cheap hotels in Hong Kong, they will not be as cheap as they would in other Asian cities.
In order to save money, you can avoid the fancy restaurant and enjoy the food carts, which in my opinion is the best way to experience the real flavors of a location. Whether your food is safe or not to eat, of course, is a major consideration to take at hand.
With both short and long term travel, going around the world comes with a ton of risks. Whether your food is safe or not to eat is, of course, a major consideration to take at hand.
But luckily it doesn’t matter where in the world you’re at, it could be chilling at a beautiful property like Flamenco Beach in Puerto Rico or eating odd food at a Pagan Festival in Florida, there are always a set of rules that can ensure you have the best odds possible of not getting sick while on the road.
So what are a few things you should be looking out for? How do you know whether or not your food is safe all the while getting the best experience possible out of your foodie portion of the trip? Here are a few golden rules I always go by to ensure that I spend more time on the streets exploring and less time on the royal throne.
Eating safely from street vendors
1.) Go to a busy cart.
My number one decision make while looking for food anywhere in the world is whether or not its busy. This will cover your ass in a number of ways. For one, if it’s super busy then odds are it’s busy for a reason; the food is good. Locals are not going to line up for bad food. Always go where the locals go and you’re guaranteed to get a good meal.
Second, a busy food stand is a good sign that the food is not going to make you sick. Being that there are a lot of people eating there, locals & travelers alike, they’ll know whether or not the food is going to give you a case of the mud butt. 😉
2.) Cleanliness & Tidiness is the key.
As always, cleanliness and tidiness to a food stand is the key to a healthy(er) meal. Are there flies landing all over the food? Are the plates dirty? Does the food seem to still be moving? Then odds are it is not very clean and you may want to stay away.
From my experience, I’ve learned that in general if a place seems clean and tidy then most likely it’s safe to eat from. But as always, just use your better judgment. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone that if the warning alarm in the back of your head is going off then listen to it!
3.) Fresh food cooked to order in front of you.
Another very important thing I look for is whether the food is cooked in front of you or not. If it’s been sitting out, then it has a chance to collect germs/bugs/debris and all sorts of other unwanted things. If it’s freshly cooked in front of you, chances are anything that may have been in it before is now dead from the heat. My go to meals are those that are either grilled or fried. That direct heat will kill almost anything!
4.) Bonus Tip: My Golden Rule of 3.
Just because a place looks fancy and is 3 times the cost of another, doesn’t mean that it’s 3 times the quality. Some of the best and most authentic food I’ve ever gotten happened to be from a street vendor, not some 5-star restaurant. Look at it this way, don’t you think in a 3rd world country one would focus on spending their money on the quality of food instead of making their restaurant look super fancy? 😉
Choosing who and/or where to eat from boils down to just using your better judgment. If you’re looking at a food stall that seems like its main entree has been sitting out all day, again, listen to the warning going off in the back of your head to not eat there.
Of course, once you finally do decide where you’re going to sit down for your next meal, always keep in mind that you want to go somewhere that both smell and look good. Any place that has a combination of these things is usually a winner in my book!
How do you choose which street vendors are safe to eat from?
Another great reason to go to a busy, popular stand is that they are always cooking and thus no food has a chance to stand in the heat and spoil. Refrigeration can be a rarity so when a vendor is constantly making fresh batches of food, they’re not allowing their ingredients to sit and spoil in the heat.
I also place a lot of trust when there’s an interesting array of people in the line – grandmas, families with little kids, students, business people. I always think that one group of people can be wrong (case in point: teenagers and their love of certain fast food joints) but it’s unlikely that a diverse group of people from so many different backgrounds could be wrong about something!
When I was in Hawaii, at a stadium flea market “swap meet”, I saw an unmarked white van pull up and suddenly everyone – and I mean everyone – pull up to it. I had no idea what was going on but I wanted to be a part of it. Turns out they were selling fresh, hot malasadas. Best decision yet!!
Nice Vanessa – that is certainly a good reason to visit a busy stand. Great idea to keep an eye out for a vast array of people…if a diverse amount of people can trust a particular food spot, most likely you can too. 🙂
Great call on the direct heat – cooked, fried, boiled, baked.
If it is raw, vegetables, salad, fruits, ice cream, tap water, ice cubes it probably is not safe!!
I totally agree (although it can very from country to country & region to region) you’ve got to be careful with what you put in your body.
The problem with most of dishes served in the street is the lack of cleanliness & tidiness which, as you pointed out, is the key to eating safely. In China it’s a major problem. Locals often don’t wash their hands and look very gross. We try to avoid places like that, but I must say the food tastes best there!!!
I totally agree…probably because of all the “natural seasoning”? hahaha
I also have eaten food in stalls. You’re tips are perfect. Those should really be considered when eating out on streets. Better recommending your tips to those who want to travel and wanted to experience good food of the streets.