The First Steps With Food and Water Safety Abroad
Food and Water Safety Abroad: the few things that matter most, and the mistakes that catch people out early.
Reducing the risk of gastrointestinal infection from food and water while travelling.
Key takeaways
- Rule of thumb: cook it, peel it, boil it, or leave it
- Ice: often made from untreated water
- Most useful single change: Drink sealed bottled, boiled or properly treated water.
- Commonest mistake: Ice, salads and unpeeled fruit where water quality is uncertain.
- See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.
Why bother
Most travel illness is food and water borne, and a small number of habits prevent most of it.
Start here
Begin here, with two things rather than ten.
- Drink sealed bottled, boiled or properly treated water
- Eat food that is freshly cooked and served hot
Then add these
Once the basics are in place, add these.
- Peel fruit yourself
- Use bottled or boiled water for cleaning teeth where quality is uncertain
The numbers, in one place
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Rule of thumb | cook it, peel it, boil it, or leave it |
| Ice | often made from untreated water |
| Bottled water | check the seal is intact |
| Hepatitis A and typhoid | vaccine-preventable and food and water borne |
| Handwashing | soap and water before eating |
Common early mistakes
- Ice, salads and unpeeled fruit where water quality is uncertain
- Food that has been standing at buffets
- Unpasteurised dairy products
Where to go next
- Why Food and Water Safety Abroad Matters, Explained Simply
- A Working Checklist for Food and Water Safety Abroad
- Food and Water Safety Abroad — the reference entry
- Altitude Sickness: What the Evidence Actually Says
- Returning Traveller Illness: What Published Guidance Supports
When to speak to a doctor
Seek medical help for bloody diarrhoea, high fever, severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, or signs of dehydration. See a GP for diarrhoea persisting more than a week after returning, or for jaundice, and always mention where you travelled. Fever after travel to a malaria area is urgent.
Where this comes from
How this page was put together
Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.
Medical disclaimer
This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.
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