Let’s see what the deal is with these hotel breakfast items you’re better off avoiding!
One of the big perks of choosing to stay at a hotel is the hotel breakfast!
Generally included in the price of the room, these buffet-style morning meals are a great way to watch while on vacation before you get ready for a day of visiting sights or lounging by the pool.
However, some hotel breakfast enthusiasts take this opportunity to treat themselves every morning without knowing that this is not the place to end up eating to your heart’s content.
While you should not avoid eating at a hotel breakfast, there are certain breakfast items that are best avoided when you are staying at these spots.
Not because they are not prepared well but because, depending on when you end up eating them, you may be opening yourself up to disappointment since they have been sitting out for a while, mass production, or harmful bacteria!
It turns out that leaving food out in the open for long periods of time may not be the best choice.
To see what items you should think twice about before eating a hotel breakfast, make sure you keep reading!
What are your to-go items for hotel breakfast? Are they on our list? Make sure to share with us in the comments!
Scrambled eggs
Scrambled eggs are always on the list when it comes to favorite breakfast foods. However, when you are having hotel breakfast, this way of preparing eggs only has a 50-50 ratio of managing to be even close to what you make at home.
More often than not, they end up being watery or rubbery, and a lot of the time, they can also have little to no flavor. What’s more, you should also make sure you generally do not go for any sort of egg that has not been on a heating device.
Scrambled eggs, even if they are not that great in texture, are kept on a hot plate, and you can safely eat them if that is your preferred way of eating eggs in the morning.
If they are not in a hot place or in a space where they have a heat source, avoid them! Without this heat source, they have a huge chance of having bacteria grow on them, which can end up making you sick.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that you should never leave cooked eggs or dishes that contain egg outside of the fridge for more than two hours.
If the temperatures are over 90°F, then you need to refrigerate the eggs in less than an hour.
All egg dishes can end up growing bacteria that can give you a number of illnesses at temperatures between 40°F and 140°F, so be careful with eggs.
Fruit salad
Fruit salad may sound amazing and a healthy option, but you may not get to eat it at home. Yet, when it comes to hotel breakfast, you should be thinking twice before you commit to the fruit salad.
This is because fruit salads end up being out for a long time, and they can easily pick up bacteria since fruits can easily be contaminated.
What’s more, if they have not been washed properly, they can easily spread any sort of bacteria or dirt to the whole dish.
If you want to get some, you should make sure that you check it carefully.
Any fruit salad with melons or cantaloupes has a chance of being contaminated since a lot of the time people do not wash the rind, and bacteria can then spread when it is cut and cross-contaminate stuff around.
Likewise, experts warn against eating any fruit salad where you can notice fruits that have soft edges or any signs of dirt or any other substance that seems off since it can be a clear sign that they are old or that the fruits have not been washed well.
Fried potatoes
This item is not one of the hotel breakfast items that you should definitely avoid due to a health reason like we have seen before.
But rather, the chance that you will get good fried potatoes is very slim, and chances are that they will be disappointing. So it is better to just avoid it.
If you do not believe us, take the word of the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who has also worked as a breakfast chef in his career.
He mentioned in interviews that fried potatoes are made en masse, and then they are re-heated when they need to be taken on the floor. This may be why you find them to be disappointing or off-tasting sometimes.
Likewise, he mentioned that a lot of spots tend to not cook them thoroughly, so they are also not crispy on the exterior.
Truth be told, fried potatoes are best eaten fresh, so hotel breakfasts are bound to be sub-par. Anthony Bourdain recommends you opt for the hash browns if they serve them since that one’s bound to be miles ahead!
Pre-cooked meats (yes, this includes bacon)
This hotel breakfast staple is similar to the egg situation, where you should be careful of whether or not the hotel breakfast keeps the cooked meats warm.
You have to keep in mind if you are there shortly after they open the buffet and stay there for a while if they come to change or remove the meat after two hours.
The FDA mentions that perishable foods will end up being unsafe to eat after two hours if they have not been refrigerated or kept covered.
The bad thing about hotel breakfast buffets is that they have been laid out a little before you arrive there, and it is difficult to tell how long the food has been there.
Some are covered and on hot or cold plates, which makes them okay to consume, but those that have been just sitting there for an unspecified amount of time uncovered need to stick to the two-hour rule.
Most of the time, pre-cooked meats end up being made in bulk, placed in a tray, and just left adjacent to the egg. Since you cannot know when they were put out, it is better to just avoid them.
Cereal
If cereal is your go-to breakfast, then we can’t tell you to skip it when it comes to hotel breakfast.
There is generally nothing wrong with going for cereal, especially health-wise, but you need to make sure that if you go down this route, your schedule for the day is not packed.
Cereal is unfortunately not the best choice for breakfast if you end up wanting to visit a lot of things, and it may make your energy levels crash throughout the day.
Since cereal more often than not has a lot of sugar, your blood sugar levels will spike, and you will end up feeling hungry earlier and closer to lunchtime.
If you want something filling and in the cereal category, go for granola, the one that has a variety of seeds and nuts. Otherwise, skip the cereal for something more filling for a full day of sightseeing.
For a long day of sightseeing, make sure that you stay hydrated. To make sure no hot weather takes you by surprise, travel with some Liquid IV in your bag!
Milk and juice
Since we talked about cereal, we have to stop and look at milk as well. Food scientists recommend that you skip any sort of milk that’s been sitting around without being refrigerated or kept on ice.
This is especially important to follow if you see it has been sitting out in those open pitchers since you can definitely expect bacteria to be growing.
If they are refrigerated or on ice and come from sealed containers, then you can go for it.
Juice is somewhat similar, but you need to be careful what type it is. If it isn’t pasteurized, hence freshly squeezed, and it has been sitting out in a pitcher at room temperature for a while, you should skip it.
Otherwise, the FDA notes that all shelf-stable juice boxes, cans, or bottles do not need to be refrigerated and are safe for consumption.
There are a lot of food choices that are questionable when you are traveling, and this also includes your own packed ones! If you are a train enthusiast, you should make sure that your choice of food is not going to cause you or other passengers issues. To check out what foods you should never bring on a train ride, click here!
