The best Professional Travel Health Advice about food and drink on holiday, can easily be summarised as follows
1. The first thing to realise is that unpasteurised milk, non bottled drinks , and uncooked food, are likely to be contaminated and therefore possibly unsafe. This does not include fruit which can be peeled.
2. Use bottled or boiled water for cleaning your teeth.
3. Don't open your mouth and drink water in the shower.
4. Dishes containing raw or undercooked eggs, such as home-made mayonnaise, some sauces (e.g. hollandaise) and some desserts (e.g. mousses), are not a good idea.
5. Ice-cream that doesn't have a recognisable international brand name, and could be made locally, is often contaminated and could be a danger.
6. When confronted with cooked food, the holidaymaker should ensure that it has been thoroughly and freshly cooked; i.e. that it is piping hot.
7. Be aware of eating out the day after a public holiday, as reheated food appears, and it can be dangerous.
8. Foods that are cooked in advance need to be held at a temperature of below 10 C or above 60 C to ensure their safety.
9.Cooked food left out for some time constitutes one of the greatest risks of food borne disease. Contaminating or surviving bacteria may multiply in it if it is. Put another way, if the food has been cooked but not refrigerated between cooking and serving, because it has been left out, then you could be taking a risk eating it. This means attractive cold buffets are very definitely unsafe if they have been laid out hours before being eaten.
10. Unpasteurised milk should be boiled before it is drunk. 11. Bottles of drinking water that contain non carbonated water should be regarded with suspicion, unless you see the seal broken in front of you, because it could be straight from the TAP!!
12. Ice should be avoided unless made from safe water.
13. Drinks such as wine or beer hot tea or coffee, and carbonated soft drinks or fruit juices that are bottled or otherwise packaged are usually safe to drink.
14. Apply strict hygiene while away especially after using the bathroom and before you eat food - never use communal, damp towels in public conveniences! Use disposable paper towels or hot air.
BASIC TRAVEL HEALTH ADVICE SAYS boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it.