Belly Problems - Is it Fair to Criticize Cruises?

[Nebr.cruiser]

Neither of us have had stomach flu problems (like Noro) or food poisioning on multiple cruises and land trips to countries such as Mexico, Thailand and Egypt.  We are fairly careful about what we eat in ports or on land tours, but not paranoid.

 

I don't personally believe Noro is worse on cruise ships than other venues; I have had Noro type symptoms quite a few times when just living our normal life.  We were on one cruise that had a serious outbreak, but managed to stay healthy.

 

M husband does tends to get some kind of upper respiratory condition often when traveling, mostly from flying, I think.  Congestion, coughs, etc.   I have too, but not as often.

[iancal]

On 1/11/2021 at 10:02 AM, jtwind said:

You two are so lucky.  I'm seriously jealous.  I would love to be able to eat street food anywhere and everywhere.

The only street food we turned down was in Vietnam.  Grilled bugs, cockroaches or whatever, were not not on our list.  Interesting to see but not for us.

[clo]

54 minutes ago, iancal said:

The only street food we turned down was in Vietnam.  Grilled bugs, cockroaches or whatever, were not not on our list.  Interesting to see but not for us.

We had some bugs in Thailand. The crunchy ones were alright, the mushy ones no. We also had some rat in Thailand.

[navybankerteacher]

On 1/12/2021 at 11:19 PM, ldubs said:

 

Who said I had bad luck?  I said I elect to frequent known/quality vendors.  

 

Food trucks vs street food.  What you refer to is what we lovingly call street food.   Food trucks/wagons typically cater to construction sites, etc.   Source of ingredients can be an exposure but the larger exposure is from improper food handling (prep).  Hence my not understanding your comment regarding sourcing.   

Ultimately, ALL food comes from the same source (farms), and most from similar intermediaries (food stores) — when it come to food trucks and street push carts, you start to see widening differences.  Refrigeration can be chancy when it comes to items that should be refrigerated, preparation can vary - how long has the vendor been in business?  How much does he know about prep and “shelf life” once an item has been cooked or otherwise prepared for sale.  Certainly inspection - particularly in third world is subject to varying degrees of competence - with restaurants with reputations more likely to “play by the rules”.

[navybankerteacher]

8 minutes ago, clo said:

We had some bugs in Thailand. The crunchy ones were alright, the mushy ones no. We also had some rat in Thailand.

 

And then there are pangolin - whose popularity in Wuhan might have played a part in getting us to where we are now.

[clo]

1 minute ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

And then there are pangolin - whose popularity in Wuhan might have played a part in getting us to where we are now.

The rats come from the farmers' rice fields and are then grilled. And THEN our guide had the hotel cook them even more. Tougher and less flavorful than any jerky I've ever had. We felt pretty safe.

[clo]

9 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Ultimately, ALL food comes from the same source (farms), and most from similar intermediaries (food stores) — when it come to food trucks and street push carts, you start to see widening differences.  Refrigeration can be chancy when it comes to items that should be refrigerated, preparation can vary - how long has the vendor been in business?  How much does he know about prep and “shelf life” once an item has been cooked or otherwise prepared for sale.  Certainly inspection - particularly in third world is subject to varying degrees of competence - with restaurants with reputations more likely to “play by the rules”.

As I've said elsewhere, the only time I've gotten sick was from salmonella-tainted US made peanut butter that didn't get removed from a shelf in a large, chain, reputable grocery store in Rio.

[ldubs]

19 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Ultimately, ALL food comes from the same source (farms), and most from similar intermediaries (food stores) — when it come to food trucks and street push carts, you start to see widening differences.  Refrigeration can be chancy when it comes to items that should be refrigerated, preparation can vary - how long has the vendor been in business?  How much does he know about prep and “shelf life” once an item has been cooked or otherwise prepared for sale.  Certainly inspection - particularly in third world is subject to varying degrees of competence - with restaurants with reputations more likely to “play by the rules”.

 

Thanks.   Way back when before I retired I worked in loss control including inspections of commercial cooking places and even a program for food trucks.  I have a pretty good feel for the hazards.  Probably makes me more critical than the average person.  

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

And then there are pangolin - whose popularity in Wuhan might have played a part in getting us to where we are now.

 

But they are popular for their scales more than their meat as it is believed their scales are a cure all for everything. Though considering they are on the verge extinction perhaps this is the best thing that could happen to them😂. Anyway at this rate we may have to eradicate all animals to prevent future pandemics😜:

Experts Say Humans Are Living in an ‘Age of Pandemics’—and COVID Won’t Be the Last

[clo]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

But they are popular for their scales more than their meat as it is believed their scales are a cure all for everything. Though considering they are on the verge extinction perhaps this is the best thing that could happen to them😂. Anyway at this rate we may have to eradicate all animals to prevent future pandemics😜:

Experts Say Humans Are Living in an ‘Age of Pandemics’—and COVID Won’t Be the Last

I worked at CDC in the late 60s. While there they discovered something at the time called "Green Monkey Virus" that had made the jump to humans. AFAIK they eventually discovered that it was HIV. Viruses mutate and wind up in humans.

[sfaaa]

3 hours ago, clo said:

The rats come from the farmers' rice fields and are then grilled. And THEN our guide had the hotel cook them even more. Tougher and less flavorful than any jerky I've ever had. We felt pretty safe.

You know what kind of fertilizer farmers use in that part of Asia right?

[clo]

1 minute ago, sfaaa said:

You know what kind of fertilizer farmers use in that part of Asia right?

No. What? But these were rice fields.

[clo]

23 minutes ago, clo said:

No. What? But these were rice fields.

Just found this:

 

Rice is a mainstay food staple in a vast majority of east and southeast Asian countries, it is also grown agriculturally in large quantities. Rats love to get into the rice fields and eat as much as they can. This diet of rice and a relatively clean environment makes these rodents reasonably wholesome and safe to eat.Mar 31, 2020

 

What Countries Eat Rats? | Eating Rat Meat | Automatic Trap ...

[ilikeanswers]

4 hours ago, sfaaa said:

You know what kind of fertilizer farmers use in that part of Asia right?

 

Unless you eat nothing but organic (and even that is not foolproof 😝) that is an issue that is not really unique. You should see what commercial farmers in developed countries do with animal waste, it is hardly any less toxic than what happens on some farms in Asia😕. 

[Hlitner]

4 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Unless you eat nothing but organic (and even that is not foolproof 😝) that is an issue that is not really unique. You should see what commercial farmers in developed countries do with animal waste, it is hardly any less toxic than what happens on some farms in Asia😕. 

I think that many folks would never buy "organic" foods if they knew more about organic fertilizer.  🙂

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

11 hours ago, clo said:

Viruses mutate and wind up in humans.

 

I believe the current figure is something like 7 out of the last 10 "new" diseases in humans are zoonoses -- those diseases that originate in animal hosts and then make the jump to human hosts. CDC has been talking about this for years, but no one pays attention until the "next" serious disease makes the leap (SARS, MERS, Bird flu, COVID, etc.)