Is Eating Street Food Safe?

[Thaddeus]

Street food is loaded with Monosodium Glutamate, MSG. Some is already in prepared food, the rest is added, even to a fresh salad. MSG is a neurotoxin. Side effects include arrhythmia, (irregular heartbeat) and cardiac arrest, (death). Every person has a different sensitivity to MSG, and you wont know your sensitivity till your heat starts missing beats and thumping in your chest. Cardiac arrest from MSG does not have a good history of revival. Two young Thai workers died in Singapore a few months ago from cardiac arrest after a meal. I wonder why??? If you care a little about your health, ask the vendor NOT to add pong-churod, MSG. Most supermarket prepared foods, bacon, sausages, prepared meats, and many canned goods, potato crisps etc, already have it in. If your food stall cooks fresh meats, and makes you a fresh salad, you can ask them not to add pongchurod. After a few visits, they will smile when you approach for your meal, saying.. no ponchurod.

Indeed, it's far safer not to eat anything, just breathe and wait for the spaceship to arrive.

Actually, forget breathing, 'they' have been constructing secret MSG pumping stations for years now and the entire atmosphere is laden with it...... stay at home with a plastic bag over your head .... that'll solve one problem.

Street vendor food, I've been eating it for years and only ever had one problem, and that was a kebab in Pattaya.

[kiakaha]

How safe is it to eat on the street?

Still walking after 13 years here, never been ill from street food and i eat it most days (i do eat at "high turnover" street vendors , that definitely makes a difference in terms of freshness)

[cloudhopper]

The traffic on the streets will likely kill you long before the food does.

[Tyke]

Fresh, safe and delicious. (some of the best thai food in thailand is from the street carts)

Delicious maybe. Fresh? - well if lying in the sun for the whole day with flies buzzing around it before being cooked is fresh, then it's darned fresh. But safe? Doubt it. Even if it doesn't give you a stomach upset, the sourcing of the cheap ingredients can be a problem. When fish are killed by dropping poison in some canal or river, the fish end up on cheap stalls. I've seen half pigs being transported in the backs of pick ups and I bet I know where it ends up. Don't get me wrong, I sometimes eat in street stalls, but my Thai friend definitely refuses on health grounds. And have you seen those friendly cuddly rats running over your feet when you eat at these places? The restaurants owners and customers rarely even bat an eyelid.

So where do u eat then? Probably your food comes from the same place as were the food stall people get theres from. Or maybe you eat that heart attack farang food.

Wrong. I love Thai food and don't eat much western food. My partner cooks from supermarket fresh meat, veg and fruit every day - never tinned or preserved. When I do eat out it's in restaurants. They have much more to lose if a customer gets a bad dose of the sh*ts oir gets poisoned and they source from more reliable suppliers. Often you can see where they cook it. I sometimes eat at street places but consider the food less safe. It's fairly obvious to anyone except the blind. For a start, the street places will buy the cheapest because of the low profit margins and secondly, they don't have much in the way of refrigeration. Hygiene education or consideration is probably completely absent too.

[Poottrong]

Is eating street food safe?

Yes on the whole I think it is.

[petitechevre]

only eat soup... and once in a blue moon some pad thai.

I really dont trust the quality.

Also i have a restaurant that serves western pasta/salad/sandwhich/burgers for 100baht and less on my soi... don't need to eat rice and cheap meat

[Swanky]

I got food poisoning eating BBQ squid from a street vendor on my first trip to Thailand years ago. It landed me in hospital for three days, I dehydrated severely, couldn't keep anything down. As a general rule, the busier the place looks the safer it is to grab something to eat there, since that isolated incident I've never had any other problems with street food.

[astral]

I have rarely had problems from street vendors.

Up market fast food chains are much more dangerous, IME

[lazeeboy]

just follow the thais if the stall is full and busy chances are you;ll be fine ,not always a guarentee though

[mgjackson69]

yes...

In four years here I have been sick from food twice.

Once was from a restaurant that I had eaten at before and have eaten at since.

Once was from shellfish from the market in Phrakhanong...I have eaten before and since also. Now I avoid the "hoy with hair"...55555

[Tyke]

just follow the thais

Are you really serious?

[Samuian]

just follow the thais

Are you really serious?

Guess he is, cause at lunch time, after office hours, one can watch virtually "zillions" of Thai people from all walks of life either having a quick bite, or a take away and Thai's are pretty fussy about food!

and of course use common sense, while choosing your roadside eatery...!

[TheDon]

Street food is the best. I love the Pad thai they make, the fruits are also great. ive never had a problem with street food there.

But what gets me is the milk in Thailand, If I have 1 sip of it, Im in the Toilet for the next hour or 2

[pampal]

some of the best food is found in street stalls/carts, I eat it everyday

[AmeriThai]

But what gets me is the milk in Thailand, If I have 1 sip of it, Im in the Toilet for the next hour or 2

Ah-ha! So then there IS something in Thailand that can knock the crap out of TheDon!

Give it a spin kick next time.

[mgjackson69]

Street food is the best. I love the Pad thai they make, the fruits are also great. ive never had a problem with street food there.

But what gets me is the milk in Thailand, If I have 1 sip of it, Im in the Toilet for the next hour or 2

Milk will do that to you

Myself, I never touch the stuff, in any country

[Tyke]

Most people here seem to assess the safety of street food as whether it causes stomach upsets or not. Some even think the fact that many Thais eat street food and that it is so delicious means it must be safe.

Acually there are other factors involved in street food that is not so prevalent in restaurant food. One is the chemical content, which is often symptomless for years. The deep frying of most of the snacks with cheap coconut or palm oil is one. Another factor is the reusing of the same oils which can generate some pretty awful carcinogens in the high frying temperatures. This is particularly bad in the polluting atmosphere of the street - with motor fumes constantly getting dissolved and chemically converted in the reheated oils.

I don't know if the use of cheap oils is more prevalent than in more upmarket restaurants, but I think cheaper ingredients are more likely with street food. Certainly the more polluted atmosphere is more prevalent in street environments.

[keestha]

A far bigger risk than eating at a street stall is eating in a seafood restaurant in a touristy place, at a time of the year when there are not so many tourists around.

[thaiman]

Acually there are other factors involved in street food that is not so prevalent in restaurant food. One is the chemical content, which is often symptomless for years. The deep frying of most of the snacks with cheap coconut or palm oil is one. Another factor is the reusing of the same oils which can generate some pretty awful carcinogens in the high frying temperatures. This is particularly bad in the polluting atmosphere of the street - with motor fumes constantly getting dissolved and chemically converted in the reheated oils.

This is what i was interested in. anyone have anymore info on this?

[bonobo]

I suffer from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), and I will have problems for many reasons (including just eating too much), yet I rarely have problems from eating street food, which I do at least three times a week.

But I never eat seafood on the street. I had a Thai friend come down with hepititis F from eating shellfish on the street, and common sense woudl tell you that the chances of bad shellfish, in particular, would be high. I am also leery of chicken, but I will eat it if it is well-cooked.

I usually stick with bawmee giao and the like, but I will eat moo katiem (I love the stuff, and once again, it is well-cooked.) Most of the harmful things you can get from any food are destroyed when the food item is well-cooked. I happen to like under-cooked food myself, but I don't get that on the street.

I am more concerned with oil used for cooking. The re-using of the oil and the palm and who-knows-what-else oil does cause me concern. So for street food, I try to stick more with soups and grilled meats.

So is street food completely safe? No, not really. But neither is food cooked in most other ways. But we have to eat, so don't worry too much and just use common sense.

Safe or not, Thailand has some of the tastiest street food in the world, in my humble opinion.

[draggons]

Never had a problem yet with any street food from north to south, east to west.

As many other posters have said if there's a large turnover it can't be producing bad food.

One poster stated that they didn't have to eat Thai street food as there was a place that sold burgers etc on the soi for under 100baht, wonder where the meat comes from to make those? (lips,eyes & <deleted>)

[thaiman]

i heard that the "pa laa" in somtom can be linked to stomach cancer? Anyone else heard of this?

[Tyke]

Acually there are other factors involved in street food that is not so prevalent in restaurant food. One is the chemical content, which is often symptomless for years. The deep frying of most of the snacks with cheap coconut or palm oil is one. Another factor is the reusing of the same oils which can generate some pretty awful carcinogens in the high frying temperatures. This is particularly bad in the polluting atmosphere of the street - with motor fumes constantly getting dissolved and chemically converted in the reheated oils.

This is what i was interested in. anyone have anymore info on this?

I suggest you focus on Google searches instead of asking serious question on ThaiVisa. The ignorance of anything, especially if it involves science, is embarrassing. Have you read some of the home spun philosophies from supposedly educated people about their food on here? The same people probably wouldn't look twice at, say, a GM food product - dismissing it as 'dangerous frankenfood' or the like. And yet they accept the safety of street food in Thailand on the basis of its popularity and taste. Well, millions of people in the world love eating hamburgers and look how dangerous those are. Thaiman - again, go elsewhere for your info.

[geriatrickid]

No.

[britmaveric]

TV members are the proper source for this info - what is better than experience??

[Samuian]

i heard that the "pa laa" in somtom can be linked to stomach cancer? Anyone else heard of this?

Don't know about cancer but various other diseases (fish worm) trematode infections, fluke....

Anisakiasis is a gastrointestinal parasitosis caused by the larval stages of anisakid nematodes. Humans acquire the disease by eating raw or improperly cooked or preserved seafood. Surviving worms will then penetrate the gut wall and enter the peritoneal cavity. Symptoms are often non-specific with abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Vague abdominal pain and possibly fewer may persist for weeks.

Gnathostoma

This nematode has carnivores (dogs, cats, wild animals) as the natural definitive hosts. Gnathostoma is acquired by eating raw or under-cooked freshwater fish or by drinking contaminated water. Clinical manifestation of gnathomiasis is caused by migrating larval. The larval can reach 10 mm. Acute pain is experienced as the larval penetrate and migrate through abdominal and thoracic organs and eventually makes its way to the subcutaneous tissues causing swellings ("creeping eruption"). In serious cases the larval may reach the eye or central nervous system.

Diphyllobothrium species

Diphyllobothrium are cestodes or tape worms. D. latum is the largest human tape worm and can reach more than 10 m in length. It resides in the small intestines of fish.

Diphyllobothriasis is a long lasting infection (decades). Most infections are asymptomatic but manifestations may include abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea, vomiting and weight loss. The distribution of the tape worm is widespread in the temperate and sub-Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere where freshwater fish are eaten.

Trematodes

While more than 750 million people around the world are at risk for food-borne trematode infections (FBT), an estimated 40 million people are infected with one or more of these parasites (WHO, 1995). The majority of these infections (around 38 million) are fish-borne infections and are mainly occurring in some 20 countries where the parasites are endemic. Although seldom fatal, trematode diseases can cause morbidity and complications leading to death. The cause of infection is the ingestion of viable trematode metacercariae, which can be present in the flesh of, raw, inadequately cooked or minimally processed freshwater fish, molluscans and crabs. Infections are prevalent in several countries and among communities where eating raw, fermented or inadequately cooked fish is a cultural habit.

Liver flukes

These parasites are named as liver flukes due to their preference for migrating to the bile ducts and the liver. Small amounts of adult trematodes can be present without causing any disease or symptoms of disease. Large numbers of trematodes (up to 20 000 have been counted at autopsy of a patient) causes obstruction of bile ducts and possibly secondary bacterial infections followed by hepatitis. Also, the incidence of liver carcinoma is high in patients with liver flukes. The clinical symptoms are fever, epigastric pain, anorexia, diarrhoea, jaundice and abdominal pain.

Lung flukes

The adult lung fluke is located in the lungs of man and a number of domestic and wild animals (dogs, cats, pigs, tigers, leopards). The eggs from the parasite are passed into the bronchioles and expectorated from the body or swallowed and passed with the faeces.

The first intermediate host is a snail and the second intermediate host is crustaceans or freshwater crab. Humans become infected by eating raw or undercooked crustaceans or crab. The immature worms will penetrate the intestinal tissue, enter the body cavity and penetrate the diaphragm into the pulmonary cavity and the lungs.

The pathology associated with lung flukes depends on the number of worms ingested. A few worms are harmless, but large numbers cause chronic pulmonary disease. A complicating factor is the tendency of lung worms to enter the central nervous system (CNS). Invasion of the brain may result in mental disorder and meningitis.

The clinical symptoms may be diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Once the worms are established in the lungs, there might be general malaise and cough. In severe cases, and when other organs are involved, the outcome of infection may be fatal.

Intestinal flukes

In recent years various species of fish-borne intestinal trematodes have gained epidemiological significance. An estimated 1.3 million people suffer from metagonimiasis, heterophyasis and echinostomiasis caused by approximately 70 species of intestinal flukes of which the Heterophyidae and Echinostomatidae are the main families. The two most important species are Metagonimus yokagawai and Heterophyes heterophies. They are very small flukes (1-2 mm) living in the intestines of the final host, causing inflammation, symptoms of diarrhoea and abdominal pain. The primary intermediate hosts are snails. Freshwater fish act as the second intermediate host for the metacercarial stage of Metagonimus sp. and brackish water fish for the Heterophyes sp.; while brackish water bivalves, molluscs and oysters serves as secondary intermediate hosts to a range of other species of intestinal flukes (Chai and Lee, 2002). Raw or improperly cooked freshwater-, brackish water fish and bivalves including oysters are the major sources of infections. Clinical symptoms differ depending on the parasites involved and include acute abdominal pain, diarrhoea, lethargy, weight loss, fever and malabsorption. In some cases, eggs of the parasite mature deep in the intestinal tissues and may enter the circulatory system and cause cardiac damage. Light infections are asymptomatic.

Source:

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[mgjackson69]

One second thought....no, eating from the street vendors is not safe.

Eating from a restaurant is not safe.

Eating anything from the open-air market is not safe.

Eating anything from the supermarket is not safe.

Do not eat prepared foods or fresh foods or any foods.

Everything has bacteria or causes cancer.

Just say NO to all food and drink.

Do you people (some, not all) really worry about everything so much?

[Tyke]

One second thought....no, eating from the street vendors is not safe.

Eating from a restaurant is not safe.

Eating anything from the open-air market is not safe.

Eating anything from the supermarket is not safe.

Do not eat prepared foods or fresh foods or any foods.

Everything has bacteria or causes cancer.

Just say NO to all food and drink.

Do you people (some, not all) really worry about everything so much?

outta the woodwork - u see what I mean?

[bkkjames]

The only time I have had a safety issue with eating food off the street is when I have to fight the soi dogs for the last piece of 7 hour old chicken bone. Darn near lost an arm in the altercation.

[mgjackson69]

The only time I have had a safety issue with eating food off the street is when I have to fight the soi dogs for the last piece of 7 hour old chicken bone. Darn near lost an arm in the altercation.

Yep...never get between a soi dog and food.