Thai Health Ministry warns of easily spoiled food in summer

[webfact]

Public health ministry warns of easily spoiled food in summer

BANGKOK, 15 April 2016 (NNT) - The Ministry of Public Health warns the public to eat only freshly cooked food since food spoils easily in hot weather.

Minister of Public Health M.D. Piyaskol Skolsattayathorn suggested food vendors to fully cook food with heat and wash fruits and vegetables with clean water many times. Knieves and cutting boards for raw and cooked food should be separated and the kitchen must be kept clean, said the minister.

As for consumers, the minister suggested that they eat freshly cooked food, use communal spoons and wash hands often in order to avoid digestive system diseases such as diarrhea.

From 1 January to 4 April 2016, there were more than 300,000 diarrhea patients. Two of them died.

10 popular dishes consumers should be extra cautious with include spicy salads with raw meat, fried rice topped with crab meat, food or desserts made with fresh coconut milk, salad and ice cubes.

-- NNT 2016-04-15

[Nigeone]

Now that's a surprise! Who would have thought ...and can anyone tell me the calories in ice cubes as a food?!! usual terrible reporting. I think the only reason there's not more diarrhea cases I feel is in lots of instances everything is fried or over cooked till nothing could survive..including the taste !

[tominbkk]

Can I wash my food once but well or do I have to wash it many times?

Also, what are knieves? Thieves with knives?

Edited April 15, 2016 by tominbkk

[Barney R]

It's a wonder anything spoils here in Thailand with the continued use of formaldehyde to stop fruits ,vegetables and seafood from degrading . Always throughly wash and rinse products purchased from "fresh fruit " markets . There is a number of reports here on Thai Visa just search formaldehyde and vegetables .

[DrTuner]

Just cover it with MSG, maibpenrai.

[khaowong1]

You can't make this stuff up. "Food easily spoiled in Summer." ​

Edited April 15, 2016 by khaowong1

[BuaBS]

Isn't it always summer in Thailand ?

[xylophone]

Now that's a surprise! Who would have thought ...and can anyone tell me the calories in ice cubes as a food?!! usual terrible reporting. I think the only reason there's not more diarrhea cases I feel is in lots of instances everything is fried or over cooked till nothing could survive..including the taste !

I think there are many more than "reported" because tourists and others accept the occasional bout of the squitters as part of the norm.

Food for thought (sorry about the pun)........street carts and similar are prevalent everywhere, so where do the vendors go when they want to use a toilet? Just about all of the toilets I have seen in places (includes Thai markets) which are frequented by such "vendors" are extremely unhygienic to say the least and most use the bowl and water method along with the finger for "cleaning" ...........and wash the hands after????? On what?

So as for food easily spoiled in summer, well it's just one of the hazards here!

[trogers]

Yes, ice cubes can cause diarrhea. Thais think that freezing contaminated water kills most bacteria in it.

Another less known source of diarrhea is raw vegetables. Not washed property or stored in warm humid conditions would cause accelerated growth of bacteria from those natural fertilizers.