Health chief comes to Phad Thai’s defence

Ingredients stir-fried at temperatures of as low as 80 degrees Celsius should make pad thai safe to eat, says the country’s health chief, in comments aimed at reassuring fans of the traditional dish in the wake of tourist complaints of food poisoning aired on social media.

The director-general of the Department of Health, Dr Panpimol Wipulakorn, came to the defence of the noodle-based dish after two foreign visitors posted on social media reports of their experience with food poisoning that they linked to pad thai. Although their trip happened about two years, the tourists’ posts have made their way into news reports.

Panpimol, in addition to citing the minimum temperature recommended for the cooking of pad thai, suggested that other factors in the food preparation could have led to the poisoning that the tourists came down with. She speculated that the ingredients could have been off or that the raw vegetables served alongside the dish had not been washed properly.

Panpimol stressed that restaurants and food stalls should ensure the cutlery is always sufficiently clean.
The doctor advised the vendors of pad thai to strictly follow food hygiene guidelines, especially the tips on how to rinse vegetables thoroughly.

She also suggests that Thais and foreigners fond of pad thai should seek out outlets and restaurants that have been issued with food safety guarantees from the Public Health Ministry.