A Bad Case of the Turkish Trots – Top tips to avoid Food Poisoning on Holiday to Turkey

June 21, 2012 - PRLog -- Had you been around the music halls in the 1900s, one of dances you would have been doing is the Turkish Trot – the dance craze that is equivalent to the street dancing you see on programmes like X-factor today.

However, the “Turkish Trots” is something completely different – it is the comedy name given to the food poisoning type illness that many people suffer on holidays to Turkey each year.

"Turkey is fast becoming one of the top holiday destinations for UK, German and Russian tourists. While in recent years the Turkish Authorities have made great strides in educating hotel staff to implement high standards of food hygiene, travellers to Turkey are still returning with the familiar holiday bugs" said specialist food poisoning lawyers, Simpson Millar.

For those that suffer serious bouts of traveller’s diarrhoea in Turkey, the Turkish Trots is no laughing matter!

So the question is, is it possible to avoid food poisoning on a holiday to Turkey?
The answer to this question is that while there are many steps you can take to reduce the possibility of contracting a harmful bug such as avoiding contact with animals and regular hand washing; this will only be half the story.

Simpson Millar are currently helping people that have picked up common holiday bugs such as Salmonella, Cryptosporidium and Campylobacter from all-inclusive hotels all over Turkey including resorts such as Lara Beach, Bodrum, Marmaris and Fethiye.
The problem is that no matter how good hygiene standards appear “front of house” in hotel restaurants, you do not know what is going on behind the scenes in the hotel kitchens.

If cooked food is being prepared on the same surface as raw meat and if salads and fruit are being “washed” with untreated water, you will never know about it. Such examples present classic examples of how food poisoning bugs end up going from the kitchen to your dinner plate. Germs such as Salmonella and Campylobacter have no taste and only a few of the bacterium will be enough to keep you bed bound (or toilet bound!) for a week or more.

Simpson Millar advises holiday makers to act “smart” when visiting restaurants in Turkey. This means conducting a visual risk assessment when entering a Turkish restaurant.

If you notice the following, you should exercise caution and consider eating elsewhere:
•   Birds and pecking away at the buffet foods;
•   Flies helping themselves to deserts;
•   A large presence of flies hovering around the restaurant;
•   Absence of hot water and soap in the restaurant toilets – it probably means kitchen staff don’t have access to proper hand washing facilities as well;
•   Buffet food that looks old and has not been replenished for a long time.
•   The golden rule is if you think something might be wrong with the food served in a restaurant, there probably will be.

If you do end up ill with food poisoning during your holiday to Turkey, we suggest that you seek medical attention and inform your holiday rep if there is one. If you require medical treatment we recommend that you inform your travel insurer as soon as possible.

The Holiday Lawyers at Simpson Millar have helped hundreds of people that have had their holidays to Turkey ruined by food poisoning claim compensation from their tour operators. They can be for free help for those unfortunate enough to have been ill on holiday to Turkey on 0808 145 1353.

Photo:
https://www.prlog.org/11890033/1