Chat with us
Good Neighbor Insurance
  • plans
    • Travel InsuranceFor trips from 2 days to 2 yrs
      • Recommended / All Plans
      • Best for Missionaries
      • Pre-existing Conditions
      • Trip Cancellation
      • Annual Plans/Frequent Fliers
      • Traveling While Pregnant
      • Over 65
      • Emergency Evacuation Only
      • Adventure Sports
      • Inside the USA
      • More Options
    • Int’l Health InsuranceFor relocating/moving abroad
      • Recommended / All Plans
      • Exclusively for Missionaries
      • Nomads
      • Maternity Coverage
      • For Canadians
      • International Term Life
      • For Furlough/Sabbatical
      • Supplemental Plans
      • International Students
      • Local Nationals
      • More Options
    • Group Travel Insurance PlansFor teams traveling together
      • Recommended / All Plans
      • Trip Cancellation
      • Over 65
      • Pre-existing conditions
      • Personal Liability
      • To the USA
      • COVID-19 Coverage
    • Int’l Group Health Plans(For organizations/employers)
      • Group Health Plans
      • International Business Group Plans
      • NGO+ Plans
      • Faith-Based Group Insurance Plans
      • Supplemental Plans
      • Other International Insurance Options
      • Group Insurance Videos
      • Group Resources
  • resources

    Resources

    • Blog
    • Videos
    • Ask Doug
    • Free Guides
      • Trip Guides
      • Top Three Travel Risks
      • Free Guide To Travel Safety
      • Travel Medical Guide 101
    • Free E-Books
    • Helpful links:
      • Ask Jeff
      • Glossary
      • Get Involved
      • Mission Resources
      • Responding to Crisis
      • Social Good Resources
      • Gap Year Resources
      • Volunteer Opportunities Overseas
    • Infographics
  • company

    About us

    • Who We Are
    • Our Values
    • Testimonials
    • Meet The GNI Team
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Get a Quote
(480) 813-9100 Quote Chat

Blog

Good Neighbor Travel Insurance Blog

How to avoid food sickness while traveling overseas

July 3, 2012 By : Doug Gulleson

International travel is just so much fun.  Well, it is a lot of fun as long as one is not sick on the trip.  Good Neighbor Insurance staff have traveled and lived outside the U.S. for many years and know from experience what to do and not to do in order to keep from getting sick.  In case we do need medical attention while overseas it is a wonderful thing to have travel medical insurance.  So before any of us travel outside the U.S. make sure you grab one of our travel medical insurance plans by calling our agents at our toll free number 866.636.9100, or go to our web page for these great travel medical insurance plans at https://www.gninsurance.com/travel-A/international_travel_insurance.asp.

If you are going to be overseas for longer than a year you may want to consider our career long term plans which are located here at https://www.gninsurance.com/health/.

Here are some helpful tips to keep you and I from being sick while traveling throughout the world.

How to avoid food sickness

Although home cooked food is usually tasty and safe, that is not all most of us will be eating on vacation. Occasional eat outs are common for everyone, and the dangers of outside food always persist. While you may be worried about falling sick after eating at a restaurant or a food booth, there are easy ways to prevent food sickness. All you need is a little knowledge about what causes food poisoning and other problems like diarrhea. Once you have that in mind, avoiding the wrong food becomes easy, whether at home or outside. Besides eating right, you could also make hygiene a habit, food storage safer and use special sources for infants and kids. Here are a few foolproof ways of enjoying the best food and avoiding sickness at all times.

Dairy Products

Dairy products are often the cause of food sickness and diarrhea. However, making them safe is easy. Dairy products need to be cooked over heat or you need to buy pasteurized versions from reliable stores. Items like cheese, milk, eggs and the like often carry bacteria, which you can get rid of, simply by heating them to the right temperature for the right time. While milk products should be pasteurized, other items from dairy lineups require adequate cooking so that possible bacteria can be removed.

Meat Products

Cooking meat at high temperatures is one way of avoiding food sickness. However, cleaning them is also important because many people cook meat items without boiling them. Heating them in ovens and leaving them even slightly uncooked can cause illness. As a result, one must be extra cautious while handling meat items. It is also important to prevent raw meat from contaminating other foods in the kitchen. Multiplying microscopic insects and organisms can adversely affect health unless meat is cooked at a certain temperatures and the handling of the meat prior to cooking was done safely. Remember, always keep meats cold prior to cooking. Temperatures for adequate cooking vary according to the source of meat.

Fruits and Vegetables

Although vegetables pose lesser threat than dairy and meat products, they are often unclean on the outside. The fact that agriculture products come from the soil, traded in the streets and so on, should be reason enough for you to clean them thoroughly before eating. While eating them raw is advisable and healthy, getting rid of soil and dust particles is very important. The presence of bacteria in the air at shops makes indiscriminate eating of raw vegetables very risky. The same goes for fruits. Cleaning the outer portion of such items is extremely important for avoiding food sickness.

Foods that prevent food sickness

A strong immune system can help you keep diarrhea and other problems away. In order to build immunity against bad food, you can help your system with fresh clementines, tuna salads, ginger tea, avocados and many other food items. These not only help in fortifying your immune system, but also prove effective when you are down with flu or an upset stomach.

Avoiding food sickness can be easier said than done, especially for infants and pregnant women. However, all you need is to make sure that juices and milk are pasteurized, and that everything you eat across the counter feels healthy.

Many of our clients have asked me, Doug, why we call our company ‘Good Neighbor Insurance.’  It is so wonderful to be able to share our business philosophy with you all because we are more than providing you travel insurance benefits while overseas.  Please allow me to explain via our web page at https://www.gninsurance.com/why-good-neighbor-insurance.asp.

Doug Gulleson

Search Results

10 Sustainable Travel Tips to Help with Sustainable Tourism

March 22, 2023

You love traveling, but you also believe protecting the environment is vital. Is it possible to pursue your love for travel without doing great harm to the environment?  It’s true that tourism can make a positive impact on a local economy. But in some cases, increased tourism can hurt a community more than it helps. […]

Read Article

Epic snowstorms cancel flights across the United States and the Midwest

April 11, 2019

Snowstorms cancel flights all across the U.S. this week? Be aware that the U.S. National Weather Service is predicting heavy snows this week in the Midwest and that as a result, snowstorms cancel flights (actually hundreds of scheduled flights, creating disruption of flight schedules), all across the USA. The snowstorm has been labeled “possibly historic” […]

Read Article
Heavy snowstorms cancel flights across the USA, April 10, 2019

Travel with Disabilities – Deaf Travel / Hard-of-hearing

May 11, 2017

How to Optimize Your Deaf Travel Experience Traveling as a deaf or hearing-impaired person can be frustrating and unsafe. Deaf travel is an even greater challenge when traveling outside the U.S., since there are often no explicit laws and services protecting or serving deaf persons. If you’re traveling overseas as a deaf person for the […]

Read Article

Travel Gear Review: Best Coffee Mug for Travel – Starbucks Clip and Sip

November 13, 2014

Looking for the best coffee mug for travel? For commuting? The Starbucks Click and Sip Travel mug may be it. We test the new Starbucks “Clip and Sip” (Clip Tumbler) Brushed Stainless Steel Travel Mug Let’s face it, the main buying “feature” on this 16oz. Clip&Sip travel mug is the “clip” that allows you to […]

Read Article

5 Common Mistakes International Students Make at College

September 28, 2017

Your first semester as an international student on a U.S. college campus is a time filled with many emotions. This might include excitement, nervousness, anxiety, anticipation, curiosity, and more. Here are 5 common mistakes international students make during their first semester at college in the U.S. Not arriving on campus early enough Not getting involved […]

Read Article

Discover the Unique Flavors of Tofu Tek Surabaya: A Traditional Indonesian Delicacy

July 31, 2023

One of the popular traditional foods in Surabaya is Tofu Tek. Tofu Tek contains half-cooked tofu, rice cake, potatoes, bean sprouts and sliced ​​cucumber. Then doused with peanut sauce that has been mixed with sweet soy sauce and petis. By the way, petis is a traditional Indonesian condiment that is similar to shrimp paste, but […]

Read Article

Copyright © 2023 Good Neighbor Insurance All rights reserved.

  • About Us
  • Site Terms
  • Privacy Policy
Scroll Up