Is Eating Street Food Safe?

[barky]

I would suggest to anyone to be careful. Especially when it comes to seafood!!. Would suggest to use eat at sites that are well patronised to ensure high turnover of food stuffs. Any place that allows the customer to touch the food should be avoided. After all it's bad enough eating at a place where the vendor (no Gloves) is picking his nose, scratching his arse, patting the dog then proceeds to serve you.

[TheDon]

I eat seafood off the carts if Im in a place right next to the ocean, I wouldnt eat it in bangkok.

People are just paranoid, people just hear stories about other people being sick and start this rumor about it not being safe etc.

I would probably choose street food over many peoples homes on this forum

[bkkjames]

I eat seafood off the carts if Im in a place right next to the ocean, I wouldnt eat it in bangkok.

People are just paranoid, people just hear stories about other people being sick and start this rumor about it not being safe etc.

I would probably choose street food over many peoples homes on this forum

Interesting to see that you eat seafood off the carts next to the ocean, but are paranoid about eating it in Bangkok.

Oh I get it, by your point "People are just paranoid" you meant to say, "People, including myself are just paranoid".

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Pot, kettle, tyke.

I'm sorry if you don't like the answers here. Feel free to eat elsewhere.

[uptou]

I eat at them all the time,& ive generally eaten better at stalls than in fancy restaurants.

I look at it as getting the guts battle hardened for possible trips to india or nepal,where you will have to rough it for eating at some point.Thats the reason why us softie farangs get dodgy stomachs,because we are not used to a few germs.

I think i'm going to start taking those worm tablets once every 6 months aswell.

Heres to a firm crap.

[rick75]

The only time I have been sick was eating at a Farang restaurant in Pattaya, I normally eat street food but I am careful about Seafood, better to be safe than sorry.

[vrsushi]

If I put a steak in front of a car exhaust for a second then started the car. You saw the fumes go through it; would you eat it?

If you wouldn't why would you eat something that has been hanging around a busy road for hours?

If you saw me come out of the toilet without washing my hands and I then picked up an apple would you eat it?

So how many street sellers wash their hands do you think?

If you knew I used the same oil 100 times would you eat my fries?

How often do you think the oil gets used by a treet seller selling a meal for 30 bht?

Why is it that so many foreigners leave their hygeine levels behind when they visit a third world country? Are you lot happy if your girlfriend were to do any of the above when cooking at home?

[TheDon]

If I put a steak in front of a car exhaust for a second then started the car. You saw the fumes go through it; would you eat it?

If you wouldn't why would you eat something that has been hanging around a busy road for hours?

If you saw me come out of the toilet without washing my hands and I then picked up an apple would you eat it?

So how many street sellers wash their hands do you think?

If you knew I used the same oil 100 times would you eat my fries?

How often do you think the oil gets used by a treet seller selling a meal for 30 bht?

Why is it that so many foreigners leave their hygeine levels behind when they visit a third world country? Are you lot happy if your girlfriend were to do any of the above when cooking at home?

come on, I think you have just been listening to too many stories of what people say what happends to other people. Dont be soft and eat the food. Ive never had any problems with it

[britmaveric]

^not to mention as I stated previously you would never eat food from a restaurant if you knew what they were up to.

[mgjackson69]

^not to mention as I stated previously you would never eat food from a restaurant if you knew what they were up to.

Exactly so...if you were to tour the kitchen area of most restaurants you probably would not eat there

[Tyke]

If I put a steak in front of a car exhaust for a second then started the car. You saw the fumes go through it; would you eat it?

If you wouldn't why would you eat something that has been hanging around a busy road for hours?

If you saw me come out of the toilet without washing my hands and I then picked up an apple would you eat it?

So how many street sellers wash their hands do you think?

If you knew I used the same oil 100 times would you eat my fries?

How often do you think the oil gets used by a treet seller selling a meal for 30 bht?

Why is it that so many foreigners leave their hygeine levels behind when they visit a third world country? Are you lot happy if your girlfriend were to do any of the above when cooking at home?

come on, I think you have just been listening to too many stories of what people say what happends to other people. Dont be soft and eat the food. Ive never had any problems with it

Only in the second case would you notice it soon after the meal - the other 2 take some years to cause an effect. The you notice.

[MarkBKK]

How safe is it to eat on the street?

Not safe at all. At least 70 per cent of the people responding to your question are dead. They died of food poisoning from eating street food. Actually, make that 90 per cent. The ones who aren't dead soon will be, all because they ate street food. Look around you, it must be true, almost everyone you see in Thailand eats/has eaten street food, therefore they're dead ... they're ghosts ... we're all ghosts because we ate street food and then died.

(Unless I got hold of the wrong end of the stick and you meant ''How safe is it to eat on the street ... like if I buy a burger and sit down in the middle of Rama IV to eat it?'' in which case it's just a silly question.)

[Tyke]

How safe is it to eat on the street?

Not safe at all. At least 70 per cent of the people responding to your question are dead. They died of food poisoning from eating street food. Actually, make that 90 per cent. The ones who aren't dead soon will be, all because they ate street food. Look around you, it must be true, almost everyone you see in Thailand eats/has eaten street food, therefore they're dead ... they're ghosts ... we're all ghosts because we ate street food and then died.

(Unless I got hold of the wrong end of the stick and you meant ''How safe is it to eat on the street ... like if I buy a burger and sit down in the middle of Rama IV to eat it?'' in which case it's just a silly question.)

mmm.... not many brain cells used in this one, hey? So smoking must be harmless because you see so many people smoking cigarettes. Maybe they are ghosts, never thought about that. Oh and water is even safer because we see people swimming in it.

My whole world has changed now.

The question was "Is eating street food safe?". Not a good question as the level of safety needs to be defined and what it is to be compared to. In any case, it would involve some sense to answer it - not good on Thaivisa, but we are stuck with it. In any case the key word is 'safe', not necessarily 'deadly' as you seem to think.

[TheDon]

Anyone ever watch Ramsay kitchen nightmares? Im sure alot of street food is safer then some resturants

[wolfmanjack]

In 13 years no problems for me either. Knock on wood.

I don't eat the fish here though because of the state of the rivers. Fish tend to contain whatever poisons etc that are in the water.

[MarkBKK]

The question was "Is eating street food safe?". Not a good question ...

Er ... precisely.

[Naam]

"street food is not safe"

if you happen to be unfortunate (as i was in 1991) catching amoebiasis. in my case a life threatening disease as i acquired -living in the bush and jungle for years- a certain immunity. result was i hardly noticed any side effects for several months till i broke down one morning in the gym, was transported to a hospital where a hole as big as a fist was discovered in my liver. some "learned" specialists in a Florida hospital wrongly diagnosed the amoebia abscess as liver cancer and wanted to cut me up. i refused and told them "liver cancer? put your scalpels away and make me fit for flying as i prefer to spend my last six weeks and then die in my home country.

luckily in Germany a correct diagnosis was done and i was cured by taking extremely powerful antibiotics over a period of three months. lucky for me too was the fact that the liver is the only organ in the human body that can regenerate and/or regrow parts.

go ahead street food lovers but don't look with what kind of water crockery and cutlery is "cleaned" and don't mind the flies which pretaste the delicious food you are savouring

[fred2007]

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.

[uptou]

If you think you are going to be alot better off by eating in restaurants i would suggest going to look at one of the big fishing boats unloading the fish.Alot of the fish gets put in piles on the ground,& you can see the occasional rat crawling around in the boats.The ice is usually delivered to the holds in ancient old trucks.Most of the stingrays & large prawns will be heading to upmarket restaurants in bkk.

The meat in the markets is put on display during the day,but kept in the fridge overnight,& i doubt whether fancy retaurants by their meat from tescos.

So to me its all much the same,& usually no problem.At least you can catch a glimpse of the raw meat in food stalls.

[TheDon]

Man some people are just scared, I mean so many people make up BS stories about how they got sick off street food. I mean there is pleanty of stories about people eating everywhere.

Street pad thai, im dreaming for a serve of it now. makes my mouth water

[chiangmaibruce]

I don't get sick very much but the last three times I did ... twice from food eaten in a shopping centre food court and once from cooked food bought in a supermarket. Chicken every time too! And we buy food in the markets, from cheap/basic mum and dad restaurants, and from food stalls every week.

[Naam]

Man some people are just scared, I mean so many people make up BS stories about how they got sick off street food. I mean there is pleanty of stories about people eating everywhere. Street pad thai, im dreaming for a serve of it now. makes my mouth water

you mean the various bullshÍt you spread in thaivisa are not stories but true?

[NoSpeakIt]

thedon is too broke to stay in thailand so he just posts on TV all day remembering back to the girl younger than his daughter who said she luvs him.

[alexth]

In more than 3 years in Thailand, I got food poisoning just once and that was from a pretty popular restaurant. I have street food at least 6days/week and never had a single problem, EVER. Hope that answers the posters question

[pattaya_girl]

Been sick and stuck to the toilet a couple of times in 7 Years, but it wont stop me from eating street food - at least I can see them making it, and what I am eating. Its delicious, i like it. Not so keen on these posh restaurents.

[desi]

How safe is it to eat on the street?

From the posts I've read, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of difference between eating on the street and eating in some restaurants. So logically, it's all down to each vendor/restaurant... and how they prepare food (refrigeration, cleanliness, etc).

I'm not squeamish when it comes to eating at side stalls or small restaurants, but I am aware of the problems. And truthfully, I don't do a lot of stall eating (and I do even less now that I know about the oils) but I do eat at Thai restaurants.

My better half eats on the street daily now that we live in BK. When we started coming here in the mid 90's he was sick each visit, sometimes for the entire trip. Now that Thailand has somewhat cleaned up the food industry, it's gotten a lot less (but he did have an 'event' this past week on a trip up North). I believe the lessening episodes are a direct result of the Thai Government's "Safe and Clean Food for All in 2004" initiative (you can read about it here). I can't find an expanded reference to it, but I was told (or read in a newspaper) that the government had workers in the food industry take courses on proper food handling. Does anyone have a link?

But it's pretty simple really. If food has been left out with no cover, reheated, with flies crawling all over and rats leaving urine around, then there is going to be an increase of bacteria on the food we eat.

There are five issues to think about:

1) Clean hands / work surfaces

Fresh, running water is not usually available for street vendors to use. And as leaving carts to source cleaning water is not practical...

2) Rats / work surfaces

They run all over the carts after dark - so do vendors disinfect the surfaces before laying out the food or putting serving spoons on counters? I've watched them set up and (so far) haven't seen this in place.

In their travels from sewers to trash cans to kitchens, rats may carry the germs of epidemic jaundice, tularemia, typhoid fever and severe food poisoning, the parasites of trichinosis, and even rabies virus.

3) Flies on food

It's difficult to find a food stall that does not have flies wandering around. And surprisingly, there are no attempts at swatting them away.

When a housefly lands on our food, it vomits on the food. The digestive juices, enzymes, and saliva in the vomit begin to break down and dissolve the food. The fly can then suck up the liquid food with its sponge-like mouth parts and its proboscis. If flies eat food from garbage cans or any other source of germy food, some of those germs stick to the fly's mouth parts and when the fly vomits on its next snack (your sandwich?), it transfers some of those germs.

4) Cooking oil

There seems to be a disagreement on which types of oils are good or bad, but reusing contaminated oils is still an issue.

Food at foodstalls in the streets of Bangkok (where many thousands of people eat every day) use oil that is of course contaminated by car exhausts, and/or oil that has been reused over and over again, giving rise to a highly toxic substance to cook food with. Most regular restaurants (as in most countries) do not indicate what kind of oils they are using to prepare your food.

5) Fresh / reheated food

We've all walked by bowls filled with ice, uncooked meat on top. There are no covers so flies, car exhausts, people coughing and sneezing can all contribute to how healthy it is.

The vendors I know set up their goods for a short window, then pack it up until later on. So as far as I can tell, they do not reheat or constantly heat food all day. But again, their food is open to the elements (flies, car exhausts, people coughing and sneezing).

One thing I didn't realise is that cooked rice cannot be left out...

Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will germinate into bacteria. These bacteria will multiply and may produce toxins (poisons) that cause vomiting or diarrhoea. Reheating the rice won't get rid of these toxins.

But like I said, I'm not squeamish. I do eat Thai food and I don't see that changing. Not when I crave it as much as I do!

Note: I'm pretty sure that my recent stomach problems are not related to eating on the streets of BK, or in Thai restaurants

Edited August 3, 2008 by desi

[Tyke]

How safe is it to eat on the street?

From the posts I've read, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of difference between eating on the street and eating in some restaurants. So logically, it's all down to each vendor/restaurant... and how they prepare food (refrigeration, cleanliness, etc).

I'm not squeamish when it comes to eating at side stalls or small restaurants, but I am aware of the problems. And truthfully, I don't do a lot of stall eating (and I do even less now that I know about the oils) but I do eat at Thai restaurants.

My better half eats on the street daily now that we live in BK. When we started coming here in the mid 90's he was sick each visit, sometimes for the entire trip. Now that Thailand has somewhat cleaned up the food industry, it's gotten a lot less (but he did have an 'event' this past week on a trip up North). I believe the lessening episodes are a direct result of the Thai Government's "Safe and Clean Food for All in 2004" initiative (you can read about it here). I can't find an expanded reference to it, but I was told (or read in a newspaper) that the government had workers in the food industry take courses on proper food handling. Does anyone have a link?

But it's pretty simple really. If food has been left out with no cover, reheated, with flies crawling all over and rats leaving urine around, then there is going to be an increase of bacteria on the food we eat.

There are five issues to think about:

1) Clean hands / work surfaces

Fresh, running water is not usually available for street vendors to use. And as leaving carts to source cleaning water is not practical...

2) Rats / work surfaces

They run all over the carts after dark - so do vendors disinfect the surfaces before laying out the food or putting serving spoons on counters? I've watched them set up and (so far) haven't seen this in place.

In their travels from sewers to trash cans to kitchens, rats may carry the germs of epidemic jaundice, tularemia, typhoid fever and severe food poisoning, the parasites of trichinosis, and even rabies virus.

3) Flies on food

It's difficult to find a food stall that does not have flies wandering around. And surprisingly, there are no attempts at swatting them away.

When a housefly lands on our food, it vomits on the food. The digestive juices, enzymes, and saliva in the vomit begin to break down and dissolve the food. The fly can then suck up the liquid food with its sponge-like mouth parts and its proboscis. If flies eat food from garbage cans or any other source of germy food, some of those germs stick to the fly's mouth parts and when the fly vomits on its next snack (your sandwich?), it transfers some of those germs.

4) Cooking oil

There seems to be a disagreement on which types of oils are good or bad, but reusing contaminated oils is still an issue.

Food at foodstalls in the streets of Bangkok (where many thousands of people eat every day) use oil that is of course contaminated by car exhausts, and/or oil that has been reused over and over again, giving rise to a highly toxic substance to cook food with. Most regular restaurants (as in most countries) do not indicate what kind of oils they are using to prepare your food.

5) Fresh / reheated food

We've all walked by bowls filled with ice, uncooked meat on top. There are no covers so flies, car exhausts, people coughing and sneezing can all contribute to how healthy it is.

The vendors I know set up their goods for a short window, then pack it up until later on. So as far as I can tell, they do not reheat or constantly heat food all day. But again, their food is open to the elements (flies, car exhausts, people coughing and sneezing).

One thing I didn't realise is that cooked rice cannot be left out...

Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will germinate into bacteria. These bacteria will multiply and may produce toxins (poisons) that cause vomiting or diarrhoea. Reheating the rice won't get rid of these toxins.

But like I said, I'm not squeamish. I do eat Thai food and I don't see that changing. Not when I crave it as much as I do!

Note: I'm pretty sure that my recent stomach problems are not related to eating on the streets of BK, or in Thai restaurants

Desi,

very nice summary and has enlightened some of us, although drawn the veil of ignorance over others.

[DualCitizen]

I find it odd that people seem to only equate "safe" with food poisoning. There are many things that they could put in the food that would never make you get food poisoning but is definitely unsafe. Such as the woman who used bug spray in her marinade for grilled skewered meats to keep flies off. Or how about the fact that all soup stock pots used by the vendors use lead soldering to make the different compartments? This leads to lead contamination in the stock, which you would never notice or get sick from immediately. And how does the meat stay in the sun all day without going rancid? In nearby Vietnam, their solution is to mix the meat with formaldehyde, a preservative and known carcinogen. Are Thais also using formadehyde? Maybe, maybe not. But if you were to ask me are Thai vendors scrupulous enough to not stoop to using chemicals as preservatives? No, they are not.

Restaurants are not immune from this problem either, and although related, is not what the topic is really about. This is not a restaurant vs a roadside food stall issue.

I would also be hesitant to take the advice of a local Thais as to whether a place is healthy or not. I find that in general, the education system does not teach a good foundation of the sciences nor health and food safety. I also find that most Thais don't bother to ask questions regarding health, and they don't' know much about the food supply chain. "The food is cheap, and tasty, so why ask questions when you have a limited budget?" seems to be the logic employed. Yes, there are certainly enlightened individuals amongst the local population, but I find these are more the exception than the rule.

Keep your wits about you, and take the time to ask questions about the food you are about to eat. Also, be aware that there could be far worse things in the food than a simple matter of food poisoning.

[R123]

To answer the OP's question(and I have not read through all the other postings),

No it is not safe to eat street food.

Also it is unhealthy to do so what with reused oils in cooking and additions to the food like excess amounts of sugar and so on.

Just because someone eats street food and it does not make that person sick does not mean it is safe to eat it!

[Tod Daniels]

I've eaten food cooked off the street for over 3 years here, EVERYDAY. I've never been concerned with the quality of the food. My B/P is lower here than in the US, my chlosterol is back in line, and I've lost 22 kilos of weight since coming here, due to a freshly prepared versus a fast food, or preserved diet.

Many times in the early morning at the Khlong Toei Market I've seen the food sellers near my house shopping, loading tuk-tuks with produce, meat, etc and racing off to start preparing it for the day. Granted it's rough seeing the pick up trucks loaded with freshly slaughtered and sawn in half pigs stacked like cordwood pull up and off load, or the just dead chickens still kicking but you couldn't ask for fresher meat or produce.

It's obviously a personal choice, but the crazy near insane stuff I've read about MSG laced food, the cancer causing oil, and the rare illnesses people have allegedly contracted are enough to make my mind wobble. Sometimes easily acquired information from the internet is a detriment to common sense, and only adds fuel to the fire of people who see dangers lurking in everywhere. Do what you want "Chicken Little", but the sky ain't falling.

Why do you think the kitchens of most restaurants are 'off-limits', even in first world countries? They're little better than street vendors in the way of cleanliness, and sometimes far worse.

Use COMMON SENSE; watch where the thais in your area eat, and eat there. You should be okay.

To the one's who say it's not safe; you're probably the people I see trapped in the bathroom because you're afraid to touch the door knob to get out, forcing you to wait until someone else enters.