Brit sunseekers warned Sharm el-Sheikh is rife with tummy bug problems – as well as terror risk
The Egyptian resort is one of the worst offenders when it comes to catching nightmare food bus, an expert claims
BRITS are being warned to steer clear of budget destination Sharm el-Sheikh because it is one of the worst offenders when it comes to catching nightmare food bugs.
Tourists have already been prevented from travelling to the Egyptian city by air since last October because of the threat of Islamic State.
Theresa May was urged last week to resume flights from the UK to the resort since it became a ghost town following the terrorist bombing of a Russian passenger plane heading from Sharm to St Petersburg killed 224 people in 2015.
But now UK food scientist Richard Conroy has warned terrorism is not the only threat to tourists.
He claims Sharm is one of the worst offenders when it comes to the risk of contracting food bugs.
In August 2014, a Sharm el-Sheikh holiday bug left more than 100 Britons bed-ridden and many on drips after an outbreak of illness at a four-star Egypt holiday resort.
The founder of Sick Holiday, a firm which fights to win compensation for families who fall ill on vacation, said: "We deal with around 40,000 cases of holiday sickness a year and, while it was open, there was one offending resort that came up over and over again - and that was Sharm el-Sheikh.
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“While some experts might be lobbying for UK flights to return there imminently, I’d heed caution, and not based on terrorism fears.
“Because there’s another potential killer in the resort - and that’s poor food hygiene.
“Some destinations have a robust health and safety system in place, where hygiene as a number one priority, with governments issuing large fines and even prison sentences to offenders.
“Others, however, do not."
The expert also believes several diving deaths could be linked to gastric problems.
Conroy told : "The human body has an involuntary reaction whereupon, immediately after being sick, we take a sharp intake of breath.
“Do that in the sea and you'll fill your lungs with salt water and you’ll drown.
“While precise figures aren’t kept, I’d hazard a guess that a large percentage of drowning victims in the Red Sea may have suffered this precise scenario."
His comments come after Sir Gerald Howarth, chairman of the cross-party parliamentary group on Egypt, advised the Prime Minister to end the travel ban to Sharm with immediate effect.
He argued that significant progress has been made on security and even warned of a risk of people in Sharm becoming "radicalised" if the tourism industry continues to suffer.
The chairman said: "We want tour operators to channel their considerable power and resources into cleaning-up the hotels they are placing tourists in. Let’s get Sharm el-Sheikh as clean as Dubai and end food poisoning.
“Given three months of health and hygiene work with the hotels in Sharm el-sheikh, food poisoning would be a thing of the past.”
Monarch recently announced it would not resume flights to Sharm on October 30 as orignally planned, while British Airways has said that flights are cancelled indefinitely.
Thomas Cook has slated February 2017 as a possible date for flights to resume and EasyJet has said it will not be selling flights for the 2016 winter season, but "remains committed to resuming services to Sharm after the Government allows UK airlines to do so".
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