TEAM TROUBLE: Members of the Lions were down with diarrhoea in Tajikistan last week. -- PHOTO: FAS

In the case of the Lions last week, food poisoning almost cost them a game. In Tajikistan for a World Cup qualifier, 11 players and three officials were down with diarrhoea.

Apparently, they were afflicted after they ate a dinner spread of beef stew, pasta, rice, bread, vegetables, chicken broth and fruits at the hotel they were staying in.

Sports officials say that such cases of food poisoning among national sportsmen are rare but unavoidable. The Tajikistan incident was the first time such a major food poisoning outbreak had happened.

Ms Png Weileen, from the Singapore Sports Council's (SSC) Sports Nutrition Unit, says it is harder for athletes to control their diets when they are overseas even though they do take precautionary measures.

'While travelling and competing, we rely heavily on hotel catering as an important part of their food preparation,' she noted.

Officials will submit their menu requirements to the caterers who are then expected to follow them strictly and under the best hygiene conditions.

In the case of the Lions, the team's physiotherapist Yeo Hwee Kwan believes that it was a combination of several factors that led to the mass case of diarrhoea.

'The caterer did not have much variety in their meals and the food tended to be oily,' recounts the 36-year-old. What made it worse was that the air in Tajikistan was 'dusty'.

'When they served fresh fruit and vegetables, there may have been some contamination, even after washing,' she adds.

Stress from travel and a drastic change in temperature might have also affected the players' immune system.

National athletes in track and field are sometimes allowed to eat outside their hotels if they are not comfortable with the catered food.

Assistant chief coach T. Veeramani, 30, says that in such cases, he and the other officials will scour the area for food that is 'closer to home'. Only places with proper hygiene are considered.

Over at the national sailing team, the practice of eating right whether at home or overseas is drilled into the members from a young age through nutrition programmes.

Team manager Andrew Sanders, 38, says: 'We're very sensitive to food hygiene when we travel overseas. If the catered food is suspect, we would go out and look for packaged food. Bottled water is also a must.'

The sports officials interviewed all place emphasis on sufficient fluid intake as the places that they travel to might have different levels of humidity and heat.

To reduce the chances of a repeat of the Tajikistan incident, Ms Png says education is key. Athletes are alerted to potential nutrition issues before they reach their destination.

Officials make sure that they are aware of factors such as food hygiene standards, the types of local food available, risk of gastrointestinal disturbances, risk of dehydration and availability of athlete-friendly foods and fluids.

'Medication and probiotics are also essential items to take along,' she adds.

The advice applies also to travellers who simply want to avoid a case of Delhi belly while traipsing around a foreign land.

By the way, the Lions won the Tajikistan game.

dinohadi@sph.com.sg