Are These Things Harmful?

[deejah]

different Thais at different times have told me

eating a lot of each of these these things is not good for you

apparently what we often are given with our Thai meals to add is not even real vinegar, which i understand is a tonic

i discovered artificial vinegar at the super market and figured that must be what they are serving and maybe that is the issue

glacial acetate???

apparently eating som tum (papaya salad) often is not good for you, i don't know why

and watermelon too, maybe due to all the chemicals used in growing

true or false

any news???

i very much enjoy all of these things in large amounts

but not together

[deejah]

moderator

can you please move to the food forum

perhaps i will get responses there

thanks so much in advance

[Sheryl]

Moved as per your request...but may I add that, as far as the som tam goes, if it is som tom tai (with the raw crab) then there is a risk of liver fluke.

Minus the raw shellfish it's fine as far as I know, in fact quite healthy.

As for the watermelons, pesticides on fruit and vegetables is an issue in Thailand for sure but I can't see why watermelons would be anymore an issue than other fruit.

[thetravellingcat]

yeah i eat watermelon on a daily basis - no adverse effects yet! I eat quite a bit of pineapple too, some girls told me I would have a baby soon with my girlfriend because of this! probably superstition. does Som Tom Tai come with crab "juice" or do you have to ask for it? liver flukes sound nasty, some things are best left in the ocean, or muddy stream where they came from.

[suegha]

Don't know about vinegar, however, som tam (tum/tom) with green papaya is really god for you. Water melon, as mentioned is going to be as good for you as any fruit.

All shell fish not cooked should be avoided.

[blue eyes]

As to the watermelon the wife will not eat.Her responce is that her uncle grows them for sale and he told her not to eat.Why I ask.Because they use chemical to make much red so people thing look sweet and good.

[blue eyes]

Have eaten som tom and many things with vinegar( I love pickeled items ) all my life and have had no problem.

Edited February 15, 2008 by blue eyes

[aaaaaa]

about somtam - well, not only crabs (boo) are source of possible sickness. pretty much the fermented fish paste (bara) as well - the way many of vendors prepare, store and use it.

from what I know - green papaya is good for digestion and few other things.

BUT

apparently it also has some effect on blood - sort of increases white cells amount.

so, as I recall from my wife's explanations - that's the main reason why it is not good in too big quantities.

I ate plenty of boiled green papaya though while terribly sick in rural areas of S. Asia - and it helped a lot.

watermelons usually may have fertilizers, like some may have too heavy concentration of arsenic (if farmers is it too much). and also often vendors (or farmers themselves? or both? ) "inject" 'em with some chemicals to speed up ripening

about vinegar - obviously too much is not good, it is an acid after all !

I drink apple cider vinegar / honey cocktail almost daily and occasionally when "overdose" the vinegar part, can feel it (pain) by my liver !

but then - too much of anything is no good !

[ignis]

As to the watermelon the wife will not eat.Her responce is that her uncle grows them for sale and he told her not to eat.Why I ask.Because they use chemical to make much red so people thing look sweet and good.

How strange, the yellow ones are much nicer

[The Dan Sai Kid]

if watermelon is grown with dirty water then whatever the water is contminated is in the watermelon, as opposed to most fruit/veg which don't absorb bacteria - the bacteria is in the skin

[Jamie]

if watermelon is grown with dirty water then whatever the water is contminated is in the watermelon, as opposed to most fruit/veg which don't absorb bacteria - the bacteria is in the skin

Oh man. I don't know where you got that from but that is no where near being true.

[Gary A]

I have a farang friend who won't eat watermelon. He swears that pesticides are inside the melon and he has gotten quite sick. As for myself, I eat watermelon quite often and love it. I have never had any problems.

[Smithson]

as far as the som tam goes, if it is som tom tai (with the raw crab) then there is a risk of liver fluke.

Actually I think thesom tam tai isn't the one with the crabs and fermented fish, this is som tam boo bara I wouldn't recommend this, all manner of nasty things in that!

I read that unripe papaya has too much rubber and shouldn't be eaten, any truth to that?

[thetravellingcat]

yeah i think the yellow watermelons taste nicer anyway.

ASFAIK

som tam tai is Vegetarian if you ask for it without dried shrimps, so thats you're best bet if you like som tam, but want to avoid the nastys in dodgy shellfish products. shellfish are usually bottom feeders and ingest all the nasty stuff which you then eat.

[toptuan]

Som Tam = generic term which doesn't really specify what kind of som-tam you want. You'll get whatever the vendor has.

Som Tam Thai = the less risky brand. Usually has a sweeter sauce (which has a slight pinkish hue) and peanuts. Most ingredients benign

Som Tam Lao = Comes from Laos and Isan; the really nasty stuff; the sauce has an evil-looking brown-dirty water look to it; raw crabs, "para" (fermented fish paste), very hot chilies, etc. The "para" is pretty potent and often causes a lot of gastric distress with many foreigners and even Thais who are not used to it. Lived in Isaan for 5 years, but only eat it "socially" when put on the table, and even then only a nibble or two to be polite. Sometimes even the nibble confines me to the toilet the entire night. Yechhhh!

Edited February 16, 2008 by toptuan

[ray08]

I eat watermelon everday , so far so good , Som Tum also regulary but be very very caefull to avoid with the warm crabs , even some of my thai staff avoid it

[sensei]

Do the vendors wash or even rinse the mortar and pestle after preparing one som tam after the other?

You may ask them to omit the crab for your order but if the last order was loaded with crabs, you'll be getting all the juices and whatever is in there.

[pumpuiman]

I've eaten loads of som tum boo bala with no problems....knock wood.

my wife has many stories of unhealthy food combinations....lychees and beer will make you deathly ill (she watched in horror as I consumed copious amounts to prove it's a myth)....bamboo is bad if you have back problems....

I think it's all bull

[katana]

if watermelon is grown with dirty water then whatever the water is contminated is in the watermelon, as opposed to most fruit/veg which don't absorb bacteria - the bacteria is in the skin

A while back, someone posted up a research paper/news article here that pointed that out. They found that vegetables grown in sewage-contaminated soil actually absorbed the bacteria into the plant tissues, so washing them before eating them wouldn't necessarily protect you from a stomach upset.

Edited February 17, 2008 by katana

[Jamie]

if watermelon is grown with dirty water then whatever the water is contminated is in the watermelon, as opposed to most fruit/veg which don't absorb bacteria - the bacteria is in the skin

A while back, someone posted up a research paper/news article here that pointed that out. They found that vegetables grown in sewage-contaminated soil actually absorbed the bacteria into the plant tissues, so washing them before eating them wouldn't necessarily protect you from a stomach upset.

I'd like to see that article. What, are they bathing the watermelon in sewage? Any soil is loaded with microorganisms. The only way I could see this as being a problem is if the vegetable was sprayed with sewage water and then not properly cleaned prior to eating. It would be even worse with things like lettuce where contaminated water would get under leaves etc. I don't think one has to worry about bacteria getting "absorbed" in to the thick skin and rind of a watermelon.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

if watermelon is grown with dirty water then whatever the water is contminated is in the watermelon, as opposed to most fruit/veg which don't absorb bacteria - the bacteria is in the skin

Oh man. I don't know where you got that from but that is no where near being true.

Food Standards Agency training course...

[Jamie]

if watermelon is grown with dirty water then whatever the water is contminated is in the watermelon, as opposed to most fruit/veg which don't absorb bacteria - the bacteria is in the skin

Oh man. I don't know where you got that from but that is no where near being true.

Food Standards Agency training course...

I'm still waiting for an article link. I guess from now on we ought to stop using manure as fertilizer on gardens as the bacteria will make their way through the skins of our vegetables and kill us all.

[suegha]

Good point Jamie!

[katana]

Here's the article:

Lettuce Takes Up E. Coli, Defeating Normal Cleaning

Lettuce that has been fertilized with manure or irrigated with water contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 can take the bacteria up through its root system and internalize it inside its leaves, resisting traditional external sanitizing methods.

Researchers from Rutgers University report these findings in the January 2002 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

"In recent years, E. coli O157:H7 has been isolated with increasing frequency from fresh produce, including bean sprouts, cantloupes, apples and leaf lettuce. The mechanisms by which the pathogen is introduced into the lettuce plant are not fully understood," say the researchers.

The researchers tested the hypotheses that the source of the contamination may be poorly treated manure (it is estimated that the pathogen is present in over 8 percent of dairy and beef cattle) or irrigation water that has been contaminated with cattle feces.

The bacteria were isolated from plants grown using either medium, but interestingly, the researchers found bacteria in the inner tissues of the plants.

"We have demonstrated that lettuce grown in soil containing contaminated manure or irrigated with contaminated water results in contamination of the edible portion of the lettuce plant," say the researchers.

"Moreover, the results suggest that edible portions of a plant can become contaminated without direct exposure to a pathogen but rather through transport of the pathogen into the plant by the root system," they add.

"The inaccessibility of a large number of organisms, as a consequence of their subsurface location, is perhaps the reason for the lack of effectiveness of surface-sanitizing treatments," the authors conclude.

(Reference: E.B. Solomon, S. Yaron, K.R. Matthews. 2002. Transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from contaminated manure and irrigation water to lettuce plant tissue and its subsequent internalization. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68: 397-400.)

29-Jan-2002

http://www.unisci.com/stories/20021/0129023.htm

Edited February 24, 2008 by katana

[suegha]

Wow, that's worrying!

[Jamie]

"Previous studies have not provided a direct link for contamination of lettuce in the field through fertilization with E. coli 0157:H7-contaminated manure or irrigation with contaminated water. Moreover, the sites of association, surface or subsurface, of the pathogen following in-field contamination have not been delineated."

"We recognize that the levels of E. coli 0157:H7 used in this study are far greater than what may be found on an agricultural field;"

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extensi...02/art2may.html

So yes, let's bathe our crops in sewage water and see what happens. You cannot compare something like lettuce which has no effective "skin" to prevent "possible" migration to that of a watermelon. I'm curious to know why there has only been one study one can actually find on the net that supports this theory.

[colino]

my wife who is thai will not eat som tam, eggs, or coconuts for one year after giving birth ??? she is breast feeding i get the som tam bit but eggs ???

[suegha]

my wife who is thai will not eat som tam, eggs, or coconuts for one year after giving birth ??? she is breast feeding i get the som tam bit but eggs ???

I suppose it's better safe than sorry. Eggs are supposed to have an x% chance of samonella - maybe that's the reason?

[majenta]

I have gotten sick eaten watermelon, I used to quite like them and now can't eat the stuff.

I bought them already cut up at Tops. An hour after eating it I was nauseous and threw up

everything that was in my stomach and was delirious the next day, did not eat anything for next

24 hours not even water.

I think it just depends on luck which ones you buy but I will

never buy it again as the memory of what happened still haunts me.

[Cuban]

I consider the issue with "prepared food" by other people is that you suffer the effects of their poor hygiene practices, after using the rest room for example. I have seen various cases where the same chopping block is used for raw and cooked meats as well as vegatables. I doubt Tops staff wash the fruit before cutting it up so the chance of what is on the skin getting on to the cut surface is there, that said I have eaten their prepared fruit before without ill effects.

Watermelons. I understand that an old trick is to inject the melons with water to increase their selling weight, riverwater being slightly cheaper than Evian means that there is a contamination risk - although as a regular practice this would soon be discovered and sales affected.