Hi,

There are a lot of cooked salads served in Morocco (cooked peppers or aubergine for example served cold).

It is likely that salad is washed in tap water. The tap water is safe to drink however it is likely to be a different mineral content to your UK home supply.

I have eaten salad without any ill effects. I would say go easy on the salad during the first few days of your stay, as I always think this is the time when your body is adjusting to the changes (weather temperature, diet, hydration, travel, etc.).

I agree with Shimmin's suggestion of trying the cooked salads. The aubergine is yummy!

Hello Debs

You can get a gippy tummy from all sorts of things (handling filthy banknotes, touching door handles in taxis etc. and then putting your hand to your mouth) but it's always the hotel or the food that seems to get blamed. I can't speak for individual establishments and their policies on bottled water, but If you're staying somewhere posh, the salad should be ok to eat - although it may well have been washed in tap water. If you eat somewhere less posh, say in the square or a cheaper restaurant in town, just make sure you eat where loads of locals are eating too. If an establishment is well patronised the food will be fresh and clean - they aren't going to make their customers ill, after all.

Do remember that whatever precautions you take, you will be ingesting local water at some point in ice cubes, juices (some of the poshest hotels use powdered or concentrated orange juice - yuk!), and so on. Unless you are truly picky, you'll be cleaning your teeth in it. It's fair to say it might alter your bowel movements slightly, but it really shouldn't make you ill. When I go to Finland, I always have a couple of days of extra trips to the loo and I assume it's the water - the water in both Finland and Morocco is good, we're just not used to it.

ok thanks for replies. I do tend to get a jippy stomach wherever I go so am sort of expecting it, but want to [prevent my son feeling ill if at all possible. we are staying in 2 different riads. No mention of anyone getting sick while staying in either, so hopefully ok

thanks

debs

Hi,

The courgette with cumin is also pretty mouth watering.

For a majority of Moroccans any cooked veg is a salad.

I'd be wary of raw tomatoes and cucumber, vinegar and onion which is another common salad especially as street food is exposed to dust all day long and hygiene leaves something to be desired.

Eat everything well cooked, piping hot, fruits peel, skip lettuce.

John W - strange to read about tummy upsets in Finland, indeed! I live there now at the moment, and have had nothing unusual, on the contrary everything is superclean, perhaps that is the reason that our bodies are not used to the "usual bacterial". after having said that, yes, the water is very hard, stings eyes and skin gets red.

It's the first couple of days in either Morocco or Finland (or anywhere!) that's the problem. I always put it down to the water, but it could simply be the stress of the journey, a change in climate, being more (or less) active and so on. I need to say that in either country my tummy settles down after a couple of days.

I think it's perfectly safe to eat salads in most posh or well-patronised places in Morocco. In my view, people are far more likely to become ill from other causes.

Totally agree with John W, its getting your gut use to the change in everything, and yes, people are so fast to blame hotel food,lol.

Ive heard and read great stories about pre biotics which you start taking a week or two before travel, im giving them a go when I go to Tunisia in April, the condition the gut with good bacteria. Cant do any harm, my friend always got what she thought was food poisoning when travelling, until she took pre biotics, never had a bad tummy since, shes goes away 3 times a year, all over the world.