Health and safety

How to avoid food poisoning in India

Most stomach trouble in India comes from water and from food that has stood around, not from spice. Sealed or boiled water, food cooked hot in front of you and fruit you peel yourself cover most of the risk. If it catches up with you anyway, fluids come first, and a few clear signs mean seeing a doctor the same day.

Not medical advice

This page is practical travel advice, not a diagnosis or a treatment plan. Discuss vaccines and any medicines for your kit with a doctor or travel clinic 4–6 weeks before the trip, and if you feel unwell in India, see a doctor.

Why stomachs give up in India

Travellers call it Delhi belly; doctors call it travellers' diarrhoea. The CDC calls it the most predictable travel-related illness: depending on destination and season, 30–70% of travellers get it during a two-week trip. In South Asia rates rise noticeably in the hot months before the monsoon.

The cause is rarely spice. It is microbes in water, ice and food that was handled with unwashed hands, rinsed in unsafe water or left standing warm. The same routes carry hepatitis A and typhoid, which is why a travel clinic usually brings up these vaccines for India.

No set of rules gives full protection, as the UK's travel health service NaTHNaC notes plainly. But a handful of habits cut the risk a lot, and they matter most in the first week, when everything smells good and the body hasn't adjusted.

Water and ice

Treat tap water as unsafe everywhere, including good hotels, unless it has been boiled or properly treated. The table shows what works.

Bottled water	Drink only from an unopened, factory-sealed bottle. Use the same water to brush your teeth.
Ice	Skip it unless you are sure it was made from safe water. Alcohol in a cocktail does not kill microbes in the ice.
Boiling	A full rolling boil for one minute kills the microbes that cause illness, even at Himalayan altitudes. Tea and coffee made with water that has just boiled are generally safe.
Portable filters	A microfilter (pores under 1 µm) removes bacteria and parasites such as Giardia but does not reliably remove viruses. An ultrafilter (about 0.01 µm) removes viruses too.
Tablets and UV pens	Chlorine and iodine work against bacteria and viruses but poorly against Cryptosporidium; chlorine dioxide copes with it. A UV pen treats 1–2 litres of clear water at a time and does not work in cloudy water.
Canned and bottled drinks	Sealed cans and bottles of soda are generally safe. Wipe the rim before drinking.

✅ Street food: how to choose

Street food is half of India's flavour, and giving it up entirely is not necessary. The CDC notes that street food carries a higher risk, and that fully cooked food served hot is the safest choice. In practice that means:

Cooked in front of you, served steaming — Dosa off the griddle, pakora out of the oil, chai off the boil. Heat is the main filter.
A busy stall with a quick turnover — Food that sells fast does not sit warm for hours. A queue of locals is a good sign.
Careful with anything raw on the side — Chutneys, raw onion, salad garnish and the spiced water in pani puri (crisp shells filled with flavoured water) are made with water and are not cooked.
Wash your hands before eating — Soap and water beat sanitiser. Gel works worse against norovirus and Cryptosporidium and barely works on greasy hands, but it is better than nothing.
Look for a Clean Street Food Hub — India's food regulator FSSAI certifies street-food clusters that meet at least 80% of its hygiene benchmarks after a third-party audit. The certificate lasts two years, with routine inspections in between.

Fruit, juice and dairy

Fruit: the safest is fruit you rinse in safe water and peel yourself: bananas, mangoes, oranges, papaya. Pre-cut fruit from a cart has been handled and has often stood in the heat, so it is a gamble.

Salads and raw vegetables: where hygiene is uncertain, the CDC advises skipping them. A salad in a good restaurant that washes produce in treated water is a different story, but you can't see the kitchen.

Fresh juice and lassi: ask for no ice. Juice is safer when whole fruit is pressed in front of you and no water is added.

Dairy: choose pasteurised milk and dairy products. Hot chai boiled with milk falls into the same category as other just-boiled drinks. Curd, lassi and street-cart sweets made from milk are a bigger risk in the first days, and packaged products from a fridge in a proper shop are the calmer choice.

👣 If it caught up with you

Most cases pass on their own within a few days. The main risk is dehydration, so fluids come first.

Drink, little and often
For mild symptoms, any safe drink will do, but go easy on very sugary ones: the CDC notes they can make diarrhoea worse.
Switch to ORS if you're losing a lot of fluid
Oral rehydration salts (ORS) are sold in pharmacies as sachets. Dissolve them in safe drinking water exactly as the packet says. Choose sachets labelled ORS, not ready-made sports or electrolyte drinks.
Keep eating if you can
Light, freshly cooked food: rice, khichdi (rice and lentils cooked soft), toast, bananas. Babies keep breastfeeding.
Medicines only after talking to a doctor
Antidiarrhoeals and antibiotics have their own limits and contraindications. Agree in advance with your doctor what is allowed for you, or ask a doctor in India. Antibiotics are taken on prescription, not just in case.
Call your insurance assistance line
They will point you to a partner clinic and explain how payment works. Keep every receipt.

When to see a doctor

See a doctor straight away if you have:

a fever of 38°C or higher;
blood or mucus in the stool;
severe abdominal pain;
confusion, yellowing skin or eyes, or a rash;
you can't keep fluids down, or there are signs of dehydration: weakness and drowsiness, sunken eyes, very little dark urine.

If there is no improvement within three days, see a doctor too. Children, older people and pregnant women should get advice earlier. If life is at risk, call 112.

✅ What to pack

A small stomach kit. Agree its contents with your doctor, especially any medicines.

ORS sachets — A few to start; pharmacies in India sell them everywhere.
Thermometer — Fever is one of the signs that decides whether you need a doctor.
Soap and hand sanitiser — Soap first, gel when there's no tap.
Water treatment — A filter, purification tablets or a UV pen if you're heading off the beaten track.
Medicines your doctor approved — Your regular prescriptions with a buffer, plus whatever your doctor advised for the stomach. Carry the prescriptions.
Insurance details — Policy number and the assistance phone line, saved offline.

❓ Questions people ask

Can I drink tap water in a good hotel?

Better not, unless the hotel gives you boiled or properly treated water. Sealed bottled water removes the guesswork.

Can I brush my teeth with tap water?

The CDC advises using bottled or treated water for brushing too where tap water may be unsafe.

Is ice in restaurants safe?

Only if it was made from safe water, and from the outside that is hard to tell. When unsure, order drinks without ice.

Should I avoid street food completely?

No. Choose food cooked to order and served hot at busy stalls, and skip raw sides and water-based snacks for the first days.

Should I take antibiotics just in case?

No. Antibiotics are taken when a doctor prescribes them. Discuss what to carry with your doctor before the trip.

Are there vaccines against food-borne infections?

Hepatitis A and typhoid vaccines exist and are usually discussed for India. A travel clinic will advise based on your route and history.

Do energy or electrolyte drinks work instead of ORS?

For real dehydration, use ORS from a pharmacy mixed exactly as directed. Very sugary drinks can make diarrhoea worse.

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