Eating Advice: How to Avoid Getting Sick!

islandgirlagain wrote:

I saw that recently about strawberries, too, on a well known travel show. All fruit is irrigated the same but because strawberries are so porous you can't easily clean them at a street vendors booth. Soaking them at home with bleach would make them safe.
Building up your gut flora will help and nothing beats fermented food like sauerkraut. It has so many more probiotics than yogurt. Kombucha and kefir help with different strains, too. We're all looking forward to sampling street vendor's food, and just using caution and prudence like you would anywhere.

I am a retired medical professional with a holistic background, Bleach is not some thing I would advise anyone to consume, wash food in or put on your skin. Strawberries soaked briefly in soppy water with vinegar should be just fine. I don't advise eating at vender stalls because of obvious sanitation issues, They handle money, food, money again and then there is handwashing and bathroom questions unanswered Observe them awhile and see how much hand washing is being done ? I have never seen any. And no those alcohol preps are not the answer.

As for sauerkraut, kombucha etc. You will have a very hard time finding authentic versions of that here. You would have to make your own I make my own fermented cabbage. There are alternative foods the locals use. There is also an herb the locals who frequent the venders take to eliminate parasites. Parasites are one of the biggest vender risks.

jeanfinney wrote:

Restaurants are a risk everywhere! They sell little blue bottles of disinfectant for fruits and veggies in every supermarket in Mexico, and there must be a reason for that. I always disinfect and never have problems. Better safe than sorry! Although I don't know about the "soapy water" business - who would want to eat strawberries that tasted like soap, or anything for that matter?

soap acts as a surfactant , it pulls dirty away from surfaces, vinegar helps reduce pesticides.. One would assume you would a.) not use large amounts of soap and b.) rinse after soaking for a few minutes. So you fruit will not taste like soap. And it certainly beats tasting like bleach which should not be consumed and remains on whatever you put it on for long periods of time, It's classed as a : textile/lamdty bleaching agent, hard surface cleaner
Hazard Classification: Oxidizer, unstable (reactive), corrosive, lung toxin  disinfectant.

As for the spray bottles in the market, they are based on fear and they became popular in the U.S. So of course Mexico is trying them also. They are there because they sell. They are not needed anymore than the disinfectant soaps and disinfectant personal care products as well as the  alcohol wipes.  Just soap and water should be your first defense.