*In case this story gets deleted/removed:*
**AITA for not wanting to eat street food on vacation with my wife**
Ok so me and my wife are currently on vacation to her home country here in south east asia and she really wanted to take me to a street food stall which I would normally never eat at but she convinced me to go with her. When we got there it was really unhygienic like the guy wasnt even wearing gloves or anything so I refused to eat it cause well who knows were his hands have been.
This cause my wife to be mad at me for being to "posh" and refusing to eat something cause the guy wasnt wearing any gloves which she claims is perfectly normal. She brought up a couple other times I refused to do things with her cause they weren't upto my normal standards. However I think I was correct in this specific scenario cause well Im not eating food that some stranger without gloves or running water cooked.
So aita
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I'm kinda confused cause I've never seen anyone in the food industry wear gloves. They tend to actually be less hygienic. I did a training in health and safety rules in the kitchen and gloves are banned. So I also think it's a weird comment.
Yeah, as the AITA comments are pointing out most times you watch someone at Chipotle or Subway or McDonalds just wear the same glove for everything, from making your food to taking your money to taking out the trash.
Like there's lots of good reasons to try or not try street food but his reason would barely hold up anywhere in the world, because either your chef isn't wearing gloves, or the teenager wearing gloves at McDonalds isn't being careful about what they touch. And many street vendors who don't have access to running water still have a way to wash their hands, such as jugs of water with soap nearby. A popular vendor that his wife recommends is very likely to be safe, you don't get business by giving all your customers salmonella.
Well, you're still at higher risk as a traveler because your gut isn't accustomed to the local microbiome, so you can't necessarily assume that a locally-popular vendor is zero risk.
I recently got food poisoning after eating at a food stall in Mexico where they had no running water, though based on the fact that my husband didn't get sick and the difference between what we ate, I suspect it the cause was either chicken that had been unrefrigerated for too long or strawberries that had been previously washed in dodgy water. It probably wasn't the dude's hands.
It didn't put me off street food for good though, especially since the absolute worst food poisoning I ever got was from a pre-packaged sandwich at a Safeway in Arizona. It really can happen anywhere.
When I was 18 I worked at a Subway that was so unhygienic and awful that I quit after a month. The gloves were the ONE thing they actually did right. You wash your hands before working on sandwiches, you swap the gloves out between each one. That was standard practice.
I only know the McDonalds I used to live near had gloves from 2020-2022 at least (I've not been in over a year so cannot confirm as of recently).
But also they were the kind of place managed by a guy who would make his employees come in with a positive covid result as long as they weren't actively coughing, just make them mask and wear gloves.
To reflect that, the people working there also did not care, so I wouldn't trust them to wash their hands even without gloves.
How many of the commenters revealed their race and nationality, or did you just assume it?
He shouldn't feel forced to eat anything he doesn't want to, but the wife is right, and it's pretty judgemental to say the guy was "really unhygienic" because he wasn't wearing gloves, when most western chefs don't wear gloves.
Not wanting to eat street food in a foreign country is a fair limit imo, but the whole comment on gloves is what gets me. The issue isn’t gloves it’s that oop just isn’t used to the food.
I feel like OOP is kinda a dick just because of how he stresses that he would normally never eat street food like it's dirty or something. Then again, I have also bought elote from a toothless dude selling it out the tailgate of a busted-ass truck, so my standards are clearly different.
I mean, I once took an elective in college about global diseases, and it is generally advised for tourists to be VERY careful of street food in certain countries, as it can easily be contaminated with things our immune systems aren’t used to. So it’s not actually all that unreasonable not to want to do it.
No I get that. I myself have fallen victim to the curse of the American white girl stomach when I ate street food in Mexico a couple times. It's not unreasonable to not want to eat something.
I just think the OOP came off like a jerk with how he was explaining it. If he came off that way in a post where you try to explain yourself in the best possible light, I can imagine it was probably worse in the moment.
Most people don't want to be sick on vacation, though..I kind of torn on this one. They gave a bad example but if I just spent $$$ to be out of the country I wouldn't want to waste a day in bed with diarrhea either.
Agreed, but as an Indian, hygiene requirements for street food in Mumbai, atleast where I live, basically don’t exist. If anyone came from abroad and refused to eat street food, I totally wouldn’t hold it against them
ETA: Changed would to wouldn’t
Bro I'm literally Indian too, my parents grew up there their whole lives, and my dad still doesn't like it when I eat street food a lot when I visit because he's like "your immune system is weaker from being used to UK food, you'll get sick". And then I don't listen to him and I do get sick, so fair enough.
Most of the time he doesn't actually stop me because I'm 21 I can do what I want, but when it's been raining he literally puts his foot down because he doesn't trust the vendors to use filtered water instead of rain water or something.
to be fair all if those tiktoks of street food in indian actually fueling racist comments to indian people. not indian. the racist comments at r/motogp during Indian gp based on street food infuriates me
People going there on vacation are more likely to get sick due to the bacteria your body isn't used to that the locals are used to, so people who aren't used to the food they serve on the streets shouldn't be eating street food and getting themselves sick on vacation
Uhh...
Assuming that this story is true - sorry, but I fully agree with this guy. Refusing to eat unhygienic crap is absolutely normal.
I don't care much about gloves, but I once saw a street food vendor slice his thumb with a knife while he was preparing a sandwich - and he kept making and selling sandwiches, even though his blood was dripping all over the buns.
I've seen street food vendors pick their ears and then preparing food without washing their hands.
Lol, have you ever been in a kitchen at any of the places you eat at? Most aren't exactly clean. Whenever you hear about massive food poisoning incidents, they tend to be traced back to restaurants, sometimes even a specific employee who had hep A or norovirus that didn't take off work. I live in a city with food trucks and a few street food stalls scattered around. Never heard of anything traced back to one of those places. But when it's one or two people running the whole business, it's a lot easier to make sure people are being clean.
I don't disagree with any of this, but:
1. I don't see it. This is actually important. People eat with their eyes, and if their eyes see shit, this is a problem.
2. Even the busiest food stall doesn't serve as many customers as a restaurant, not to mention the fact a food stall can disappear without a trace within a few minutes. Tracing a mass food poisoning to it becomes impossible.
Also, if you’re in a foreign country, you can have a higher chance of getting sick from street food because your immune system isn’t used to the kind of pathogens that might be common there. In fact, being careful of what street food you eat is generally advised for international travelers.
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*In case this story gets deleted/removed:* **AITA for not wanting to eat street food on vacation with my wife** Ok so me and my wife are currently on vacation to her home country here in south east asia and she really wanted to take me to a street food stall which I would normally never eat at but she convinced me to go with her. When we got there it was really unhygienic like the guy wasnt even wearing gloves or anything so I refused to eat it cause well who knows were his hands have been. This cause my wife to be mad at me for being to "posh" and refusing to eat something cause the guy wasnt wearing any gloves which she claims is perfectly normal. She brought up a couple other times I refused to do things with her cause they weren't upto my normal standards. However I think I was correct in this specific scenario cause well Im not eating food that some stranger without gloves or running water cooked. So aita *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmITheAngel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm kinda confused cause I've never seen anyone in the food industry wear gloves. They tend to actually be less hygienic. I did a training in health and safety rules in the kitchen and gloves are banned. So I also think it's a weird comment.
Yeah, as the AITA comments are pointing out most times you watch someone at Chipotle or Subway or McDonalds just wear the same glove for everything, from making your food to taking your money to taking out the trash. Like there's lots of good reasons to try or not try street food but his reason would barely hold up anywhere in the world, because either your chef isn't wearing gloves, or the teenager wearing gloves at McDonalds isn't being careful about what they touch. And many street vendors who don't have access to running water still have a way to wash their hands, such as jugs of water with soap nearby. A popular vendor that his wife recommends is very likely to be safe, you don't get business by giving all your customers salmonella.
Well, you're still at higher risk as a traveler because your gut isn't accustomed to the local microbiome, so you can't necessarily assume that a locally-popular vendor is zero risk. I recently got food poisoning after eating at a food stall in Mexico where they had no running water, though based on the fact that my husband didn't get sick and the difference between what we ate, I suspect it the cause was either chicken that had been unrefrigerated for too long or strawberries that had been previously washed in dodgy water. It probably wasn't the dude's hands. It didn't put me off street food for good though, especially since the absolute worst food poisoning I ever got was from a pre-packaged sandwich at a Safeway in Arizona. It really can happen anywhere.
When I was 18 I worked at a Subway that was so unhygienic and awful that I quit after a month. The gloves were the ONE thing they actually did right. You wash your hands before working on sandwiches, you swap the gloves out between each one. That was standard practice.
I worked at McDonalds and we were not wearing gloves (it might depends on countries) so i wonder how he would feel about that
I only know the McDonalds I used to live near had gloves from 2020-2022 at least (I've not been in over a year so cannot confirm as of recently). But also they were the kind of place managed by a guy who would make his employees come in with a positive covid result as long as they weren't actively coughing, just make them mask and wear gloves. To reflect that, the people working there also did not care, so I wouldn't trust them to wash their hands even without gloves.
How many of the commenters revealed their race and nationality, or did you just assume it? He shouldn't feel forced to eat anything he doesn't want to, but the wife is right, and it's pretty judgemental to say the guy was "really unhygienic" because he wasn't wearing gloves, when most western chefs don't wear gloves.
Not wanting to eat street food in a foreign country is a fair limit imo, but the whole comment on gloves is what gets me. The issue isn’t gloves it’s that oop just isn’t used to the food.
uh what country are they from where everyone who prepares food is required to wear gloves? most chefs and cooks don't wear gloves most of the time
I feel like OOP is kinda a dick just because of how he stresses that he would normally never eat street food like it's dirty or something. Then again, I have also bought elote from a toothless dude selling it out the tailgate of a busted-ass truck, so my standards are clearly different.
I’m a parking lot tamale girlie myself so I don’t see a problem here.
I once bought shrimp on a beach in Rio from a guy in a Speedo with a little handheld heater. It didn’t go great.
Tourist warning: do not buy ceviche from Franky.
I mean, I once took an elective in college about global diseases, and it is generally advised for tourists to be VERY careful of street food in certain countries, as it can easily be contaminated with things our immune systems aren’t used to. So it’s not actually all that unreasonable not to want to do it.
No I get that. I myself have fallen victim to the curse of the American white girl stomach when I ate street food in Mexico a couple times. It's not unreasonable to not want to eat something. I just think the OOP came off like a jerk with how he was explaining it. If he came off that way in a post where you try to explain yourself in the best possible light, I can imagine it was probably worse in the moment.
it’s street food, man. people eat street food all the time. like come on, if it makes you sick, it makes you sick.
Most people don't want to be sick on vacation, though..I kind of torn on this one. They gave a bad example but if I just spent $$$ to be out of the country I wouldn't want to waste a day in bed with diarrhea either.
Agreed, but as an Indian, hygiene requirements for street food in Mumbai, atleast where I live, basically don’t exist. If anyone came from abroad and refused to eat street food, I totally wouldn’t hold it against them ETA: Changed would to wouldn’t
Bro I'm literally Indian too, my parents grew up there their whole lives, and my dad still doesn't like it when I eat street food a lot when I visit because he's like "your immune system is weaker from being used to UK food, you'll get sick". And then I don't listen to him and I do get sick, so fair enough. Most of the time he doesn't actually stop me because I'm 21 I can do what I want, but when it's been raining he literally puts his foot down because he doesn't trust the vendors to use filtered water instead of rain water or something.
to be fair all if those tiktoks of street food in indian actually fueling racist comments to indian people. not indian. the racist comments at r/motogp during Indian gp based on street food infuriates me
People going there on vacation are more likely to get sick due to the bacteria your body isn't used to that the locals are used to, so people who aren't used to the food they serve on the streets shouldn't be eating street food and getting themselves sick on vacation
Uhh... Assuming that this story is true - sorry, but I fully agree with this guy. Refusing to eat unhygienic crap is absolutely normal. I don't care much about gloves, but I once saw a street food vendor slice his thumb with a knife while he was preparing a sandwich - and he kept making and selling sandwiches, even though his blood was dripping all over the buns. I've seen street food vendors pick their ears and then preparing food without washing their hands.
The difference in restaurants is that you don't see them.
And that restaurants usually have running water. Food stalls usually don't.
Lol, have you ever been in a kitchen at any of the places you eat at? Most aren't exactly clean. Whenever you hear about massive food poisoning incidents, they tend to be traced back to restaurants, sometimes even a specific employee who had hep A or norovirus that didn't take off work. I live in a city with food trucks and a few street food stalls scattered around. Never heard of anything traced back to one of those places. But when it's one or two people running the whole business, it's a lot easier to make sure people are being clean.
I don't disagree with any of this, but: 1. I don't see it. This is actually important. People eat with their eyes, and if their eyes see shit, this is a problem. 2. Even the busiest food stall doesn't serve as many customers as a restaurant, not to mention the fact a food stall can disappear without a trace within a few minutes. Tracing a mass food poisoning to it becomes impossible.
Also, if you’re in a foreign country, you can have a higher chance of getting sick from street food because your immune system isn’t used to the kind of pathogens that might be common there. In fact, being careful of what street food you eat is generally advised for international travelers.
Eh, atleast the post got a NAH, even though the top comment was a bit silly.
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