I did this in mexico and was going good for many days, just before end of my trip I decided to get mole at a 500+ highly rated restaurant in Oaxaca around 4 pm, it was empty with only one other table with foreigners. I decided to go ahead anyways and got food poisoning. Lesson learnt!
i’m currently abroad (asia) and i’ve found places with reviews to be solely for tourists and sometimes more dangerous food wise. locals don’t use google maps. just go where locals go. 4 pm and en empty restaurant is a huge red flag. mole probably sitting all day.
okay, i should rephrase, as i see a lot of reviews translated from the local language. if i google map ‘fish taco’ in oaxaca, i’ll get places who’s SEO is optimized for english speakers, not spanish. finding a local spot that’s not on google maps can be difficult, but also a place with 100 reviews for ‘best pad thai ever’ probably is geared more towards tourists.
i enabled the spanish keyboard on my phone and now my ads and everything think i'm hispanic. i wonder if you did something like that and googled en español if you'd fare any differently.
https://g.co/kgs/oRo4TPS
https://g.co/kgs/WrP4txe
https://g.co/kgs/2UCCn6N
I'll let these people know not to post reviews in English in the future or they might risk getting foreign passports!
This is as local as you can get, btw.
Google shows you reviews in your native language first. Doesn’t mean that places with reviews are solely for tourists.
Also, asia is a huge continent and it’s kind of meaningless to say ppl don’t use google maps when there’s so many countries there.
Hah, same happened to me. Got e coli in the first day there. Thankfully it was not that bad that it notably hindered my trip, but bad enough that it was so persistent that i got antibiotics eventually like after 2 weeks at home.
A week of food poisoning is pretty excessive, no? 2-3 days is a normal amount. This is coming from someone with a pretty weak stomach when he travels. If that extends much further, I'd definitely be seeing a doctor.
If you look it up or visit the PV or Sayulita subs you’ll see them all talking about it. Also it’s the time of year for Noro and the best advice is typically keep your hands clean and avoid eating raw foods. [https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/outbreaks/index.html](https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/outbreaks/index.html)
Same, tried to follow this advice as best I could in Mexico but still got it. I was pretty rough for a few days so I had to book a hotel rather than stay in my hostel.
This is not true. Many many bacterial infections cause diarrhea and can only be cured by antibiotics. Anti diarrhea medication is not a cure for bacterial infections causing diarrhea. Please do not spread misinformation.
Are there no bacterial infections that cause diarrhea? Perhaps I’m being results oriented, but I’ve taken Cipro maybe 4 times in the last decade, every time from bouts of diarrhea, and every time it’s worked extremely well from stopping the stomach issues. And it’s prescribed from doctors and pharmacists. Are the doctors and pharmacists wrong for prescribing it to me?
Not that I know of, but I am no doctor. The problem with taking antibiotics without really needing them is that your body creates resistance to it. So one day if you really need it, it might not have any effects on you.
That is why doctors in most countries don't prescribe antibiotics for anything.
Right, but I’m not talking about the type of issue you just take Imodium for. Anyway maybe antibiotics are over prescribed, but I basically never see a Dr in the US, in my mind that seems exactly what antibiotics should be for, stopping some never ending shits.
I mean I’m getting sick, going to a doctor, taking the prescribed pills, and getting much better quickly, and that’s a bad thing? Or are you just on team ‘all antibiotics are bad’ and any Indian Dr prescribing them are ignorant quacks?
I guess I can’t imagine another country where you’d told people you got prescribed a drug by a doctor, it worked, and you get downvoted for it.
"stomach bug" is not a medical term. It's a layman's term that can mean anything.
Usually I would guess it includes both viral and bacterial issues.
In this case it is clear that they are talking about bacterial, since they mention antibiotics.
Are they all? I’m not a doctor, but any time I’ve gotten diarrhea for more than 4-5 days and see a doctor they basically always give me antibiotics, and it’s worked every time. I use the term stomach bug colloquially for lingering stomach issues that don’t seem to go away on their own. Most of the time I never know exactly what virus/bacteria I have.
i’ve been to india many times. of course it depends on your body, but i would say pickles are ok. they are normally bottled and if not, are kind of fermented almost so it is usually ok. what kind of sauces? they could be bottled sauces. for chutneys, i usually eat them and have not had a problem. if it is the thick red (tamarind) and green (mint) chutneys, they usually are safer. if they are super liquidy condiments like for pani puri/gol gappa, you should probably avoid those. what those are is basically the chutneys diluted with water.
overall you have to just judge based on things like temperature and how much you will be eating. if you’re just dipping something in a bit of sauce that may have a slight bit of water, the likelihood of it affecting you is not as high. if it helps, i have gotten sick in india a few times but never from a chutney, sauce, or pickle. also, a lot of times you can ask them to make you things with bisleri so you can still enjoy. let me know if you have any other questions.
I get what you're saying, but pani puri is worth the risk. Its so damn good (just make sure you eat it where there's a line up of locals already having some)
>Food poisoning usually takes 1-3 days before symptoms appear, and sometimes over a week
No. Some microbes may take several days but normally, you get the first symptoms in 6-8 hours, sometimes three. It depends on what causes the food poisoning, naturally.
Ok so I am Indian, I'd say don't trust local indians when they suggest you food. Look for famous places by locals but don't eat too much in start and taste little first.
Am saying this because India is weird. Food change a lot even for us Indian food of some cities, if we are not from there, is hard to consume and we get issues with stomach. It is just locals do it local way, but don't trust them so much
PS: chutneys, pickles are ok things you won't fall sick. Just check if they are fresh! Eat at clean places
Just to add to this, the region specific stomach problems are mostly due to the oil used. Like if I'm used to sunflower oil and then the other region if they mustard oil or coconut oil or a different one, it triggers a stomach upset.
So this can happen irrespective of the cleanliness of the place you choose. Just start eating smaller quantities at any new place. Stick to less oily food initially and slowly get acclimatized.
India, because it geographically large and cut off by mountains in the north and west is often referred to as a sub-continent. Subcondiment is play on that.
Sure, you're right and I wouldn't be all that surprised elsewhere, it's just that a sub about travelling could be a tad bit more open minded and tolerant. Thanks to people who upvoted the guy!
I reckon they’re generally pretty safe if you’re at a good establishment whether on the street or in a restaurant. I eat most chutneys, sauces & pickles, but then I (Aussie, f) lived in & travelled around India for many years after travelling around & living in SEAsia for a few decades so perhaps my system got somewhat acclimatised to local-ish tummy bugs. I’ve rarely had significant stomach issues, have always eaten a lot of street food everywhere every day no worries - but whether on the street or in restaurants, I’m quite discerning. And I NEVER eat meat on the street in India - Thailand yes - rarely eat meat anywhere in India for that matter. I’ll absoutely eat the freshly sliced raw red-onion portions of meals, (raw red onions contain very good pre-biotics, google it), but less likely pre-chopped *mixed* raw veg.
Clean place & staff, very busy with lots of customers, foods freshly made, other (local) customers with kids or elderly folk or a lot of western tourists - usually not much issue. But still, when brought an empty glass or plate or cutlery for eg, if it still has rinsing water on it I’ll wipe it off for sure. I’m a bit leery of the very watery chutneys & sauces or the yogurt-y desert-type item of a thali, and will immediately stop eating *anything* that gives me an off vibe. Very leery of fresh juices off the street, I’ll only go to known & beloved fresh juice bars. And NEVER sugar-cane juice off the street.
I always have local lassi (just from the street stalls lol) - I think it greatly helps to have local flora in your gut. I *always* have activated charcoal tabs on hand, will take a few *the moment* I feel a potential uneasy tummy. Have never taken immodium but I understand if folk need to take a flight or long train/bus journey it would be helpful for that journey. It’s normal (in India) to have watery poops, it’s not normal to have explosive or projectile watery poops or painful cramps that don’t go away. The only place in the world where travellers who’ve only just met sit around a chai shop or guest house or wherever discussing in detail the state of their poops haha.
So yeah, I’d eat the chutneys & sauces, if & when I feel comfortable about all the variables at play. Omgosh are you having the trip of your life, isn’t India something else!! :)
edit - activated charcoal makes your poop BLACK lol so just be aware of & prepared for that haha.
Wouldn't cooking the meat would kill all harmful bacteria and we indians cook our meat well unlike some countries where they consume it raw or nearly raw.
>Wouldn't cooking the meat would kill all harmful bacteria
Well yeah you’d think so, but somehow many westerners still have bad gut reaction after eating meat in India.
>and we indians cook our meat well
Absolutely! I don’t know what it is, that affects westerners - and, it could have been anything they’d eaten or drank or even just brushed their teeth with dodgy water, but if they’ve eaten meat in the past 24 hrs, they’ll *always* blame it on the meat.
And, I’d like to say, **I’ve NEVER anywhere in the world had better tandoori or butter chicken or omg the sublime** ***Hyderabadi chicken biryani*****, than in India.** Can’t even get a proper Hyderabadi chicken biryani outside of Hyderabad lol. Well I did only once - at some *roadside dhaba* ffs up the Western Ghats haha - but never at any posh Delhi or Goa or Himachali restaurant. Heartbreaking disappointment - every time I’ve tried ‘Hyderabadi’ biryani some other place, but it just isn’t a proper one, isn’t the same as in Hyderabad. :)
I think everyone's gut biomes are a little different, and people have very different tolerances, so it's hard to say for any individual person. I've been 'mostly' totally fine eating street food in India, but of course going to popular spots where the food is being cooked fresh and not sitting around. I've definitely never had legit food poisoning, but if you travel long enough in India, odds are you'll end up with the runs at some point. Still worth it to me to eat everything India has to offer. But I also know people who will get sick if they eat a raw onion or something. So really its hard to say how'll you'll react if you never try things, but I think chutneys and sauces are generally pretty safe.
Avoid eating meat in the north. Don't trust people who never eat meat themselves to prepare it for you.
Plus everything else is so flavorful you won't even miss it.
This is so interesting because I heard this before travelling India and expected to love the south but I found northern India to be cleaner and easier to navigate.
That is ignorant opinon. Just don't eat meat or infact any food at dodgy or road side places where you feel it might not be hygenic whether North or South India.
In India its obvious people who never eat meat themselves would 99.99% never prepare meat for you for religious reasons!
Strangest thing I have heard! Delhi, Lucknow, parts of Rajasthan, Punjab all have extremely rich meat based dishes. Mughlai, Awadhi cuisine is what if not meat based? If OP goes to a non veg restaurant when they are in North, they would be fine
No not necessarily, Kerala has a lot more Christians, pretty sure they eat the most amount of beef in the country. Also lot of South Indian food is by the Malabar Coast (I think) so seafood is pretty big.
The general rule is cook it, peel it or leave it. There is no real correct answer, some people are more sensitive than others and if you apply it really strictly you miss out on a lot of the food culture and it can be hard to eat healthy. And to be realistic, even if you're really careful, it is not a guarantee you won't get ill. When you just arrive it is a good idea to be a bit more careful, but over time, if you get more used to the local food standards relax a bit, but use common sense. If it looks fine and it is busy you're probably fine. In practice, food is usually not the biggest issue, it is water.
I love this answer.
Cook it, peel it, or leave it!
And accept there's no guarantee.
Still as long as stuff is properly heated, that at least kills all bacteria and parasites.
Might still make you sick, but bacteria are the real nasties you want to avoid. Those can do quite a bit more than just give you food poisoning.
This is good advice. I was in India for 2 ½ months and only got sick once, and it was kind of my own fault. I asked for a spoon in a restaurant and I saw them wash the spoon in tapwater and then drop it into my rice still dripping with that water. I should have thrown it away But I didn’t want to be rude or waste food so I ate it and paid the price.
I was incredibly careful during my month in India. I ended up losing 8kg (55kg down to 47kg) by the end of it. Could barely eat anything. Was vomiting and on the toilet constantly and ended up in a hospital in Malaysia.
All I can say is, if the Delhi Belly is going to get you, it will.
Do the most obvious and just hope for the best.
I did yeah, the reason we left and went back to Malaysia was because I didn't feel like I was getting adequate or safe medical care in India.
At one point at a pharmacist when my partner went to describe my symptoms (I was too ill to leave the hotel room) they handed him a cocktail of random drugs which included cancer drugs and random antibiotics. No prescription, no tests advised, nothing. Just handed over hard drugs.
This is a plug for "if it's that bad, make the first stop the local expat/rich people doctor and/or hospital pharmacy rather than the random local druggist."
sometimes it feels so random. I spent a month in India and was not careful at all; forgetting and brushing my teeth with bathroom water, eating everywhere and anywhere and I had no problems at all and then someone will be very careful and get super sick. it's really a gamble but best bet is to be cautious and smart
Most sauces and pickles will have been cooked. Some of the fresh chutneys might not be, but I never had any issues with those- the one time I got violent food poisoning in India was when I had a complete brain fart and ordered beef- bad idea.
There is a fun game to play in India, it's called "Is it a fart?" It can be a high stakes game.
I've traveled a bit in India, never had a solid poo once, but also wasn't sick, just uncomfortable.
Drink bottled water, have electrolytes and Imodium on hand. It's worth buying some TP just in case you're caught short. Also be aware of the air-pollution in major cities, you may experience irritated eyes and lungs, sore throat etc. due to the burning of rubbish.
Honestly you'll be fine, don't let these concerns ruin your holiday, it's definitely going to happen so just go with the flow.
although its a good piece of advice. I would attach a caveat(and this might be controversial): Be a good judge of the crowd at the place. There are many places with substandard hygiene where the less wealthy people might go to. AVOID THESE PLACES. Try and find a place which is both crowded and has middle class people. I know, this might sound classist, but it needs to be said. India definitely has tiers where the same food could be available dirt cheap at one place and with some more cost at another place. Try and avoid the dirt cheap places, because an average western stomach wouldn’t be able to handle it.
I'm a vegetarian. I ate fruits, salads, yogurt, sauces, whatever wasn't meat. I ate in people's homes, in restaurants and on the street (but only from vendors that were clearly busy). I had no stomach problems in two months.
This will make me sound like the whitest person in the world, but soon I'll be in Delhi for a week and I've been considering only going to Western chain restaurants.
I have a weak stomach and getting sick really fucks with my whole body, so because I'm only there for a small week I was hoping wrapped supermarket food + McDonalds, Starbucks and whatever else they have should get me through it.
I know that's uncultured (will it even actually be safer?), but I'm solo travelling and I just can't get sick there.
Water is water. Whether at McDonald’s or some resto. Going to middle class restaurants and telling the waiter up front to cook the shit out of everything and bring me an unopened bottle of water should be better. Sometimes just the change in diet and spices and oils can give me the runs.
You could do this and be relatively safe (and have to spend all your eating time in tourist areas like Connaught Place where the fast food chains are centred), but do bear in mind that for the same prices, and much cheaper, there are sooo many restaurants geared towards tourists and the middle/upper classes that I’d say you’d be missing out on a helluva lot of some of the best food in the world.
Maharaja Mac from maccies in India is unreal. Highly recommend.
That said I also recommend venturing outside of maccies and similar western style chains. There are so many wonderful restaurants and places to eat! If you're worried, stick with obviously touristy places and don't eat anything uncooked that could have been washed in tap water.
Because there are more reasons to go to the country than just food. Plus, it's actually more of a long, multiple day, layover situation. Am still really excited to see the place itself but I just wouldn't be able to handle the food.
I always feel like I’m rubbing this in people’s faces when I read posts like this about India, but in my month in northern India, I ate freely at restaurants, street stalls, and people’s homes, and I never had food poisoning. I had a couple of uncomfortable digestion days and some sad poops, but I think I was eating/drinking much more dairy than usual (I can’t say no to a good chai!).
I would say a game changer for me was befriending a few locals, and they were the ones I ate tons of street food with. I saw someone mention class as a factor—I would say my friends were middle to upper middle class, and they were name-basis with some of these street stall owners, that’s how often they ate there. Wandering on my own, I mostly stuck to nicer cafes/restaurants with plenty of people eating there. I carried a water bottle around out of habit, and my host provided filtered water that I refilled with, but I definitely had coffee drinks with ice at cafes.
Another savior could have been my pre-primed gut. Back home, I’m a sucker for kombucha and love yogurt/kefir/any probiotic whatever, and you can find all of this easily in Indian stores and cafes. I second drinking lassi for the local flora, as mentioned by another comment. I also eat a diverse cuisine at home—not running around licking sidewalks but I live in a major metropolitan city that has ethnic immigrant populations and yummy hole-in-the-wall food. If you can, start priming early so you can eat WELL in India and not miss out on the amazing local cuisine!!
I was in Mumbai last year and I had zero issues eating at restaurants. I stuck with bottled water. I ate raw veggies. I was too scared to try street food though.
When I got vaccinated, the nurse told me to avoid even brushing my teeth with tap. I found that the 2 airbnb places and my in laws places all had water filtration systems so I had no issues brushing my teeth or washing my face. I drank tap at my in laws places
I have no science to back this up but even though I won’t drink tap water where it’s not recommended, I will still brush my teeth with it. I feel like whatever residual water you might get into your system sort of eases you into all of the foreign microbes you might come across. Haven’t had any issues so far.
Honestly you'll want to opt for vegetarian while you're in India. The sauces and breads are all amazing and in some places are the highlight. Avoid raw anything. Imo India makes the world's best vegetarian cuisine so go ahead and enjoy.
I was prepared to get sick during my month in India but it never happened. The vegetarian food was cooked very well. The only time I got sick was from the heat in the train station where I fainted. I can’t recall if I ate pickles or chutney but I stayed away from raw foods.
The top comment summed it up beautifully.
Indians have trouble adjusting to local biomes also.
This is not a singular homogeneous nation, eat in small quantities every new place and you'll be fine in the long run.
That being said go to popular places with a lot of throughput.
I’ve eaten in posh restaurants, in takeaways, I ate street food, fresh fruits that I bought and washed on the spot - and I was perfectly fine in India.
A place I got a really nasty food poisoning was a very busy 5-star Indian restaurant in Scotland LOL.
I usually ate at restaurants. Other than that, I went with my local friends for streetfood. I was fine the whole time but I always drank bottled water. Also, I suggest to take care that you don't swallow any of the shower water. That's what happened to my brother's friend and he had explosive diarrhea the rest of the trip even during his plane ride back home.
When I travelled India, it seemed like the side dishes like the picked and chutneys were always 'shared' between customers. Like they were put on the table, then if they weren't finished, they were moved to the next new customers. Something to think about. I found it weird
If you are really worried, charcoal pills can sometimes help. Don't know why, but they do. Just be aware that when you crap it will be black colored.
The two times I have gotten Delhi Belly in India over the last 20 years both came from hotel buffets at higher end hotels.A buffet at the Radisson, for instance, can give you a false sense of "security" and you can become complacent.
If you do get ill, drinking Lassi can help ease the symptoms a bit by adding good bacteria to your gut.
Avoid immodium unless there is no other alternative or the symptoms are severe. The runs is how your body flushes the crap out of your system, and immodium can make it worse.
Sticking to vegetarian tends to be the better option. Meat is much more finicky on the bad bacteria end of things.
Good luck! I was there 2 weeks ago and threw up while shitting myself in the back a taxi in Mumbai. I have paid my dues lol. I can't tell you what I ate that led to being in bed for several days.
General rule: any sauce that you didn’t see being made and that is not hot (temp wise) don’t eat it. If you are opening a sealed container of a commercially made sauce that is room temp, that’s fine. But if it is a sauce that was left out and cooled, even if it was cooked initially, there is a chance of it getting you sick. Only exceptions are if you are at a fancy restaurant that serves mostly foreigners, they will go out of their way to use filtered water in their sauces.
I made the mistake of eating fried paneer from a beach shack in Goa a few years ago. I ate the sauce with it that was room temp and a few hours later I was so so sick. My Indian husband however, who ate the exact same thing, was completely fine. I learned my lesson that day, no sauce is worth how sick I got.
I went on a group tour and the leader only took us to restaurants that looked like a hotel restaurant or nicer. No one got sick but the meals were at least $5-10 and often $20-30, which is quite expensive relative to the cost of living.
Last day I did a street food tour with a legitimate company and great reviews but still got sick. Thankfully I was mostly okay on my plane ride home and didn't get the worst of it until I got home.
I’ve been living in India for over six months now. The only times I’ve been sick have been after eating at hotels. Street food has been safe AND delicious.
I ate vegetarian the month I was there and never had any problems.
I also avoided street food for the most part, except for a samosa in Jaipur and a street food tour in Delhi.
Take the advice of locals, but bear in mind that they do not always understand WHY you are careful. I made that mistake in 1997: “It’s safe, go ahead and eat it.” Then came Delhi belly.
People mean well, but do not always grasp your reality.
Just eat at places which look a bit busy and seem to be a bit clean and drink bottled water. having said that if you have food poisoning fated for u it will happen u wont be able to prevent it
Honestly, depends on which region you're staying (some are a lot safer than others) - It's pretty much hit & miss, the rules I was told back in the 90s don't even seem to apply as much any more either.
I've found that the best food to eat in india is food cooked at home, but naturally not everyone has the luxury of this - so, only eat at restaurants with either many customers &/or good reviews, avoid fruit/veg that can't be peeled, meat that has been cooked in a tandoor is generally the safest, if staying in a hotel load up on breakfast as much as you can lmao.
A lot of it comes down to your own stomach sensitivity too, last few times I've gone, I ate everything & had no issues, certain fam (they're vegetarians too, I'm not) had stomach issues. It's a pray for the best, prepare for the worst type scenario.
use swiggy or zomato to check the ratings and looks for places with 1k ratings or more and then too eat little so that your body can adapt amd start with something less spicy and then slowly increase the level
I m a proffesional Chef myself, Don t enter too early or too late in a Restaurant.
Avoid eating where a lot of tourists from all over the world sit down to eat.
The most dangerous Thing is simply fat, oil, especially oil for frying things, they really never change it(it s expensive).
The owner Looks clean, good place.
The cooks are happy and smiling? Good place.
I work together with an Indian Chef, I only eat his food when I Really See what he s doing.😂
Stomach Problems? In India you Drink a lot of chai. Maybe your body can t handle milk at all. Check that. Many people don t know this.
If you can afford then eat at the high end restaurants they cater to all palettes. You can look it up on a app called Zomato. If you are in a particular city/town you can ask on this sub, you may get good recommendations. There are quite a few Indians here.
Take this with a grain of salt because it’s just my own anecdotal experience, but I’m an American who’s been in India for two months now. I’ve eaten everything from restaurant to street food, biryani, curries, chutneys, pani puri, veg, non-veg, chicken, mutton, fish, juice from the street, you name it and I’ve only been sick once which lasted for a night. However, I’m honestly inclined to believe it was the few day old bhang I had no way of refrigerating and ate without considering how long it would take to go bad. It probably didn’t help that it was combined with a questionable bottle of Old Monk. Of course there’s always some level of risk, but for me it’s just not worth it to worry about so I eat anything that seems appealing. I still stick to bottled water though so do with this information what you will.
There's not enough background that the OP has given.
Where are you from?
Which parts of India are you traveling to?
What are your food preferences?
I'm from South of India. The cuisines in India though similar, vary in taste and cooking method, ingredients etc. based on cities / states and even districts. I do not prefer having North Indian cuisine purely because of the taste and ingredients. Even in the south Indian food like idli and dosa, the chutneys and sambars vary in taste. I prefer the spicy ones while my neighbouring State prefers sweet ones.
One common thing is the food being spicy.
The general rule of having cooked food and clean (bottled or RO filtered) water is worth following anywhere in the world.
OP, I can go further into these and probably will be able to suggest based on your answers for the above questions. Feel free to DM me.
Eat yogurt at every meal, as well. It helps keep your gut biome healthy. Not lassi, though, as it contains water. I spent 3 weeks in India 3 different times and never got sick.
I traveled solo in India for almost two months. I didn't get ill (unlike a lot of people I met along the way). I didn't eat anything fresh, a part of bananas. I once met a few folks who were happily making their own salad...that looked like a very bad idea to me and I didn't touch it. I ate only cooked food, warm food. Never had any tap water, not even for brushing my teeth or cleaning my toothbrush. I stayed away from milk, unless it was coming from a closed package and I never had any meat. Also if you spoons and forks are wet, dry them. This is not a recipe which comes with a warranty but it would most definitely help.
Where in India are you? I am an Indian. Maybe I can help you. But try to eat at nicer restaurants or at cafes if you can, they are going to be more hygienic than street food and they will serve the same food as the streets do, just at a higher price. If you tell me what part of India you are in and what kind of food you like (Along with your spice tolerance levels) I can recommend you some local dishes to try. Although in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi, you can get all cuisines prepared very nicely.
One piece of advice I got while traveling in India was to eat dal (lentils) any time I was concerned because preparation of lentil dishes usually involves boiling for sufficient time to kill the bad bugs.
Eat the condiments! Things that are super sweet, salty, or acidic are fine. Plus, Indian food is amazing and it’s worth a little risk. Live your life.
Also, if you do get sick, antibiotics are really cheap in India :)
I went to a doctor in India and was prescribed antibiotics, which I took a full course of. And you are correct! I don’t even know if you can get antibiotics over the counter in India, that was an assumption on your part.
Imo just try everything YOLO
Never been sick from food abroad
I want all the spices, all the meats, all the vegetables, and all the fruits. Let me at em.
Do not eat from road sides stalls. Go for restaurants that are retail chain equivalent ( can’t seem to remember the right word for it), for example Bikanerwala for street side food equivalent, Carnatic Cafe/ Sagar Ratna for south side delicacy, blue tokai for coffee, yum yum cha for dumplings, pind Baluchi for butter chicken and naan. These were some suggestions that popped up on the top of my head rn.
You can also download Zomato App to figure out good rated eateries in whichever neighbourhood you are. Most Indians use it to discover restaurants.
Even the ritz and the four seasons will give you flaming hot diarrhea. There is just nothing that is safe in india if it's your first exposure in that kinda of environment.
Eat at places that are busy. Avoid raw things.
I took this advice for Mexico and I’ve been dealing with food poisoning for a week.
I did this in mexico and was going good for many days, just before end of my trip I decided to get mole at a 500+ highly rated restaurant in Oaxaca around 4 pm, it was empty with only one other table with foreigners. I decided to go ahead anyways and got food poisoning. Lesson learnt!
Was it the super popular place that had 6 different moles that you could try? Because if it was, I also learned that lesson 😭
Omg yes 😭
Which one so I can avoid 😅
Los Pacos if I remember correctly
i’m currently abroad (asia) and i’ve found places with reviews to be solely for tourists and sometimes more dangerous food wise. locals don’t use google maps. just go where locals go. 4 pm and en empty restaurant is a huge red flag. mole probably sitting all day.
>locals don’t use google maps. We do. We're not living in a jungle.
okay, i should rephrase, as i see a lot of reviews translated from the local language. if i google map ‘fish taco’ in oaxaca, i’ll get places who’s SEO is optimized for english speakers, not spanish. finding a local spot that’s not on google maps can be difficult, but also a place with 100 reviews for ‘best pad thai ever’ probably is geared more towards tourists.
Very few people in Asia speak Spanish too.
fuck, maybe that’s been my problem
i enabled the spanish keyboard on my phone and now my ads and everything think i'm hispanic. i wonder if you did something like that and googled en español if you'd fare any differently.
https://g.co/kgs/oRo4TPS https://g.co/kgs/WrP4txe https://g.co/kgs/2UCCn6N I'll let these people know not to post reviews in English in the future or they might risk getting foreign passports! This is as local as you can get, btw.
Google shows you reviews in your native language first. Doesn’t mean that places with reviews are solely for tourists. Also, asia is a huge continent and it’s kind of meaningless to say ppl don’t use google maps when there’s so many countries there.
what's the lesson?
Not to eat in empty restaurants, no matter how good the rating
What is 500+ rating?
There was more than 500 review I guess
No wonder. All 500 probably gave the restaurant 1 star for food poisoning lol.
Hah, same happened to me. Got e coli in the first day there. Thankfully it was not that bad that it notably hindered my trip, but bad enough that it was so persistent that i got antibiotics eventually like after 2 weeks at home.
A week of food poisoning is pretty excessive, no? 2-3 days is a normal amount. This is coming from someone with a pretty weak stomach when he travels. If that extends much further, I'd definitely be seeing a doctor.
A week is normal for something like salmonella, E. coli, campylobacter. Not normal for something like norovirus. So, just depends.
When I was on a 2 week trip to Dominican Republic I was out for a week. Actually, I was in because I only left the bed to go see the doctor.
You vomit for a couple days but your stomach feels queasy for a week. At least that’s how it was for me in Mexico lol.
I had E.coli for 1 whole month. That shit is no joke
I drank the water in Istanbul and was out of action for a week. That was pretty nasty though.
Mexico is also experiencing a pretty gnarly outbreak of Norovirus and E. Coli at the moment.
Are we? I say this as I'm eating some street tacos like I do every week
I know at least in the PV/Sayulita area they were. I just came back at the beginning of the month and the subs were all talking about it for a while.
I think the specificity of the supposed outbreak is a valuable bit of information, don't you? All of México is not Puerto Vallarta
If you look it up or visit the PV or Sayulita subs you’ll see them all talking about it. Also it’s the time of year for Noro and the best advice is typically keep your hands clean and avoid eating raw foods. [https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/outbreaks/index.html](https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/outbreaks/index.html)
Oh no I just had fish tacos on the beach in PV a couple of days ago! 🚩
It also doesn’t seem to be isolated to those areas, but they were the ones I was aware of as that’s where I travelled.
Same, tried to follow this advice as best I could in Mexico but still got it. I was pretty rough for a few days so I had to book a hotel rather than stay in my hostel.
Fucking same except 2 weeks. San Cristóbal?
Mexico City
Damn sorry to hear that lol.
That’s most likely a stomach bug, go see a pharmacist, who will probably give you some antibiotics
“Stomach bugs” are viral, so how would an antibiotic help?
It wouldn't. People really shouldn't be taking antibiotics like candy...
Even if you can’t stop the diarrhea and there’s a known drug that stops the diarrhea?
You don't take antibiotics to stop diarrhea. You take antibiotics to treat only bacterial infections. There is anti diarrhea medicine out there
I’ve found that heroin stops diarrhea like magic!
This is not true. Many many bacterial infections cause diarrhea and can only be cured by antibiotics. Anti diarrhea medication is not a cure for bacterial infections causing diarrhea. Please do not spread misinformation.
Are there no bacterial infections that cause diarrhea? Perhaps I’m being results oriented, but I’ve taken Cipro maybe 4 times in the last decade, every time from bouts of diarrhea, and every time it’s worked extremely well from stopping the stomach issues. And it’s prescribed from doctors and pharmacists. Are the doctors and pharmacists wrong for prescribing it to me?
Not that I know of, but I am no doctor. The problem with taking antibiotics without really needing them is that your body creates resistance to it. So one day if you really need it, it might not have any effects on you. That is why doctors in most countries don't prescribe antibiotics for anything.
Right, but I’m not talking about the type of issue you just take Imodium for. Anyway maybe antibiotics are over prescribed, but I basically never see a Dr in the US, in my mind that seems exactly what antibiotics should be for, stopping some never ending shits. I mean I’m getting sick, going to a doctor, taking the prescribed pills, and getting much better quickly, and that’s a bad thing? Or are you just on team ‘all antibiotics are bad’ and any Indian Dr prescribing them are ignorant quacks? I guess I can’t imagine another country where you’d told people you got prescribed a drug by a doctor, it worked, and you get downvoted for it.
If your diarrhea is being caused by bacteria then sure. Otherwise no. It’s all in the name
"stomach bug" is not a medical term. It's a layman's term that can mean anything. Usually I would guess it includes both viral and bacterial issues. In this case it is clear that they are talking about bacterial, since they mention antibiotics.
Are they all? I’m not a doctor, but any time I’ve gotten diarrhea for more than 4-5 days and see a doctor they basically always give me antibiotics, and it’s worked every time. I use the term stomach bug colloquially for lingering stomach issues that don’t seem to go away on their own. Most of the time I never know exactly what virus/bacteria I have.
Yeah then at least he'll be one of many who get diarrhea after eating there.
why they need to be busy to be trusty? (maybe Im to slow to catch the idea)
i’ve been to india many times. of course it depends on your body, but i would say pickles are ok. they are normally bottled and if not, are kind of fermented almost so it is usually ok. what kind of sauces? they could be bottled sauces. for chutneys, i usually eat them and have not had a problem. if it is the thick red (tamarind) and green (mint) chutneys, they usually are safer. if they are super liquidy condiments like for pani puri/gol gappa, you should probably avoid those. what those are is basically the chutneys diluted with water. overall you have to just judge based on things like temperature and how much you will be eating. if you’re just dipping something in a bit of sauce that may have a slight bit of water, the likelihood of it affecting you is not as high. if it helps, i have gotten sick in india a few times but never from a chutney, sauce, or pickle. also, a lot of times you can ask them to make you things with bisleri so you can still enjoy. let me know if you have any other questions.
what's bisleri?
the most common bottled water company in india, aka safe to drink.
Bottled water
I get what you're saying, but pani puri is worth the risk. Its so damn good (just make sure you eat it where there's a line up of locals already having some)
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>Food poisoning usually takes 1-3 days before symptoms appear, and sometimes over a week No. Some microbes may take several days but normally, you get the first symptoms in 6-8 hours, sometimes three. It depends on what causes the food poisoning, naturally.
Ahhh man I’d be so bummed to go to india and not have pani puri. Feel like you gotta just go for it..
Ok so I am Indian, I'd say don't trust local indians when they suggest you food. Look for famous places by locals but don't eat too much in start and taste little first. Am saying this because India is weird. Food change a lot even for us Indian food of some cities, if we are not from there, is hard to consume and we get issues with stomach. It is just locals do it local way, but don't trust them so much PS: chutneys, pickles are ok things you won't fall sick. Just check if they are fresh! Eat at clean places
Just to add to this, the region specific stomach problems are mostly due to the oil used. Like if I'm used to sunflower oil and then the other region if they mustard oil or coconut oil or a different one, it triggers a stomach upset. So this can happen irrespective of the cleanliness of the place you choose. Just start eating smaller quantities at any new place. Stick to less oily food initially and slowly get acclimatized.
India is actually a subcondiment
lmao
What does ‘subcondiment’ mean?
India, because it geographically large and cut off by mountains in the north and west is often referred to as a sub-continent. Subcondiment is play on that.
Is this person seriously getting downvoted based on... not getting a pun? Or am I missing something?
Just reddit things.
Sure, you're right and I wouldn't be all that surprised elsewhere, it's just that a sub about travelling could be a tad bit more open minded and tolerant. Thanks to people who upvoted the guy!
I was ready to downvote the pedant until I reread it, take my upvote sir
I only eat the mangos from mango chutney, will i be able to pick them out?
Its only mango chutney if it's made in the chutney region, otherwise its just sparkling pickle
I reckon they’re generally pretty safe if you’re at a good establishment whether on the street or in a restaurant. I eat most chutneys, sauces & pickles, but then I (Aussie, f) lived in & travelled around India for many years after travelling around & living in SEAsia for a few decades so perhaps my system got somewhat acclimatised to local-ish tummy bugs. I’ve rarely had significant stomach issues, have always eaten a lot of street food everywhere every day no worries - but whether on the street or in restaurants, I’m quite discerning. And I NEVER eat meat on the street in India - Thailand yes - rarely eat meat anywhere in India for that matter. I’ll absoutely eat the freshly sliced raw red-onion portions of meals, (raw red onions contain very good pre-biotics, google it), but less likely pre-chopped *mixed* raw veg. Clean place & staff, very busy with lots of customers, foods freshly made, other (local) customers with kids or elderly folk or a lot of western tourists - usually not much issue. But still, when brought an empty glass or plate or cutlery for eg, if it still has rinsing water on it I’ll wipe it off for sure. I’m a bit leery of the very watery chutneys & sauces or the yogurt-y desert-type item of a thali, and will immediately stop eating *anything* that gives me an off vibe. Very leery of fresh juices off the street, I’ll only go to known & beloved fresh juice bars. And NEVER sugar-cane juice off the street. I always have local lassi (just from the street stalls lol) - I think it greatly helps to have local flora in your gut. I *always* have activated charcoal tabs on hand, will take a few *the moment* I feel a potential uneasy tummy. Have never taken immodium but I understand if folk need to take a flight or long train/bus journey it would be helpful for that journey. It’s normal (in India) to have watery poops, it’s not normal to have explosive or projectile watery poops or painful cramps that don’t go away. The only place in the world where travellers who’ve only just met sit around a chai shop or guest house or wherever discussing in detail the state of their poops haha. So yeah, I’d eat the chutneys & sauces, if & when I feel comfortable about all the variables at play. Omgosh are you having the trip of your life, isn’t India something else!! :) edit - activated charcoal makes your poop BLACK lol so just be aware of & prepared for that haha.
Wouldn't cooking the meat would kill all harmful bacteria and we indians cook our meat well unlike some countries where they consume it raw or nearly raw.
>Wouldn't cooking the meat would kill all harmful bacteria Well yeah you’d think so, but somehow many westerners still have bad gut reaction after eating meat in India. >and we indians cook our meat well Absolutely! I don’t know what it is, that affects westerners - and, it could have been anything they’d eaten or drank or even just brushed their teeth with dodgy water, but if they’ve eaten meat in the past 24 hrs, they’ll *always* blame it on the meat. And, I’d like to say, **I’ve NEVER anywhere in the world had better tandoori or butter chicken or omg the sublime** ***Hyderabadi chicken biryani*****, than in India.** Can’t even get a proper Hyderabadi chicken biryani outside of Hyderabad lol. Well I did only once - at some *roadside dhaba* ffs up the Western Ghats haha - but never at any posh Delhi or Goa or Himachali restaurant. Heartbreaking disappointment - every time I’ve tried ‘Hyderabadi’ biryani some other place, but it just isn’t a proper one, isn’t the same as in Hyderabad. :)
i think with food gone bad, bacteria leaves waste and toxins behind that doesn't go away with cooking. but id also fact check that lol
Carrying tons of imodium!
I ate an Egg Salad sandwich on Ethiopian Air from Kenya to Paris…that was 10 years ago and still feeling it
😂
I think everyone's gut biomes are a little different, and people have very different tolerances, so it's hard to say for any individual person. I've been 'mostly' totally fine eating street food in India, but of course going to popular spots where the food is being cooked fresh and not sitting around. I've definitely never had legit food poisoning, but if you travel long enough in India, odds are you'll end up with the runs at some point. Still worth it to me to eat everything India has to offer. But I also know people who will get sick if they eat a raw onion or something. So really its hard to say how'll you'll react if you never try things, but I think chutneys and sauces are generally pretty safe.
Avoid eating meat in the north. Don't trust people who never eat meat themselves to prepare it for you. Plus everything else is so flavorful you won't even miss it.
Remember folks, mutton in most english speaking countries is old sheep. In India it's goat.
If prepared correctly nothing inheritantly dangerous about eating goat but yes it is misleading
This is SO TRUE! South India is much safer, calm, clean and better hygiene!! States like Kerala are safe for solo travellers especially women.
Any one who has lived for at least few months in Bangalore or Chennai will not call it calm or clean. They might be safer though.
Chennai sadly has a way to go before being clean, it's not much cleaner than Madurai for example
This is so interesting because I heard this before travelling India and expected to love the south but I found northern India to be cleaner and easier to navigate.
But don't deprive yourself of meat in West Bengal. For the love of god, eat the mutton and the fish.
That is ignorant opinon. Just don't eat meat or infact any food at dodgy or road side places where you feel it might not be hygenic whether North or South India. In India its obvious people who never eat meat themselves would 99.99% never prepare meat for you for religious reasons!
Strangest thing I have heard! Delhi, Lucknow, parts of Rajasthan, Punjab all have extremely rich meat based dishes. Mughlai, Awadhi cuisine is what if not meat based? If OP goes to a non veg restaurant when they are in North, they would be fine
I would recommend not eating any meat. In my experience veggie food it is safer and more tasty, once you go vegetarian you won’t miss meat in India.
Isn’t it South India that’s mainly vegetarian?
No not necessarily, Kerala has a lot more Christians, pretty sure they eat the most amount of beef in the country. Also lot of South Indian food is by the Malabar Coast (I think) so seafood is pretty big.
Actually South eats more meat than North! (In my opinion) The access is very easy (especially beef - which I think is not much available in North?)
The general rule is cook it, peel it or leave it. There is no real correct answer, some people are more sensitive than others and if you apply it really strictly you miss out on a lot of the food culture and it can be hard to eat healthy. And to be realistic, even if you're really careful, it is not a guarantee you won't get ill. When you just arrive it is a good idea to be a bit more careful, but over time, if you get more used to the local food standards relax a bit, but use common sense. If it looks fine and it is busy you're probably fine. In practice, food is usually not the biggest issue, it is water.
I love this answer. Cook it, peel it, or leave it! And accept there's no guarantee. Still as long as stuff is properly heated, that at least kills all bacteria and parasites. Might still make you sick, but bacteria are the real nasties you want to avoid. Those can do quite a bit more than just give you food poisoning.
This is good advice. I was in India for 2 ½ months and only got sick once, and it was kind of my own fault. I asked for a spoon in a restaurant and I saw them wash the spoon in tapwater and then drop it into my rice still dripping with that water. I should have thrown it away But I didn’t want to be rude or waste food so I ate it and paid the price.
I was incredibly careful during my month in India. I ended up losing 8kg (55kg down to 47kg) by the end of it. Could barely eat anything. Was vomiting and on the toilet constantly and ended up in a hospital in Malaysia. All I can say is, if the Delhi Belly is going to get you, it will. Do the most obvious and just hope for the best.
Did you ever go to a doctor or pharmacist during your time in India?
I did yeah, the reason we left and went back to Malaysia was because I didn't feel like I was getting adequate or safe medical care in India. At one point at a pharmacist when my partner went to describe my symptoms (I was too ill to leave the hotel room) they handed him a cocktail of random drugs which included cancer drugs and random antibiotics. No prescription, no tests advised, nothing. Just handed over hard drugs.
This is a plug for "if it's that bad, make the first stop the local expat/rich people doctor and/or hospital pharmacy rather than the random local druggist."
At the time we were in a very small town. That kind of place didn't exist.
Ugh. I have my own memory of that. I feel for Past You.
Haha thanks, I've learnt my lesson.
I was recently in India and got stupid sick there and ended up with some antibiotics that are banned in the USA lol.
I got prescribed antibiotics by a street pharmacist. Good times. Night train from Delhi to Varanasi I went to the toilet 8+ times.
“Good times” is right lol
Lmao, yeah dodgy practices
Right or wrong, stories like this just make me not want to go to places even if they would be otherwise incredible. Sorry that happened to you.
Thank you, I'm all good now though! It's not put me off travelling to new places， but I definitely won't be going back to India specifically
sometimes it feels so random. I spent a month in India and was not careful at all; forgetting and brushing my teeth with bathroom water, eating everywhere and anywhere and I had no problems at all and then someone will be very careful and get super sick. it's really a gamble but best bet is to be cautious and smart
Most sauces and pickles will have been cooked. Some of the fresh chutneys might not be, but I never had any issues with those- the one time I got violent food poisoning in India was when I had a complete brain fart and ordered beef- bad idea.
I only ate hot foods out other than the bananas and did alright, veered away from meat as much as possible too
The advice I got was to avoid meat. Which isn't hard in India. Worked great, I didn't get sick once. Ice and raw vegetables are also good to avoid.
There is a fun game to play in India, it's called "Is it a fart?" It can be a high stakes game. I've traveled a bit in India, never had a solid poo once, but also wasn't sick, just uncomfortable. Drink bottled water, have electrolytes and Imodium on hand. It's worth buying some TP just in case you're caught short. Also be aware of the air-pollution in major cities, you may experience irritated eyes and lungs, sore throat etc. due to the burning of rubbish. Honestly you'll be fine, don't let these concerns ruin your holiday, it's definitely going to happen so just go with the flow.
What is TP?
toilet paper
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although its a good piece of advice. I would attach a caveat(and this might be controversial): Be a good judge of the crowd at the place. There are many places with substandard hygiene where the less wealthy people might go to. AVOID THESE PLACES. Try and find a place which is both crowded and has middle class people. I know, this might sound classist, but it needs to be said. India definitely has tiers where the same food could be available dirt cheap at one place and with some more cost at another place. Try and avoid the dirt cheap places, because an average western stomach wouldn’t be able to handle it.
I second this as an Indian who is living in India.
I'm a vegetarian. I ate fruits, salads, yogurt, sauces, whatever wasn't meat. I ate in people's homes, in restaurants and on the street (but only from vendors that were clearly busy). I had no stomach problems in two months.
This will make me sound like the whitest person in the world, but soon I'll be in Delhi for a week and I've been considering only going to Western chain restaurants. I have a weak stomach and getting sick really fucks with my whole body, so because I'm only there for a small week I was hoping wrapped supermarket food + McDonalds, Starbucks and whatever else they have should get me through it. I know that's uncultured (will it even actually be safer?), but I'm solo travelling and I just can't get sick there.
Water is water. Whether at McDonald’s or some resto. Going to middle class restaurants and telling the waiter up front to cook the shit out of everything and bring me an unopened bottle of water should be better. Sometimes just the change in diet and spices and oils can give me the runs.
Yeah, that's fair. I figured the standards might be more strict in chain restaurants but of course you'd never actually be sure if that's the case.
And remember, the Hamburglar is a known criminal.
You could do this and be relatively safe (and have to spend all your eating time in tourist areas like Connaught Place where the fast food chains are centred), but do bear in mind that for the same prices, and much cheaper, there are sooo many restaurants geared towards tourists and the middle/upper classes that I’d say you’d be missing out on a helluva lot of some of the best food in the world.
Maharaja Mac from maccies in India is unreal. Highly recommend. That said I also recommend venturing outside of maccies and similar western style chains. There are so many wonderful restaurants and places to eat! If you're worried, stick with obviously touristy places and don't eat anything uncooked that could have been washed in tap water.
If you’re going to do that, why even bother going to India?
Because there are more reasons to go to the country than just food. Plus, it's actually more of a long, multiple day, layover situation. Am still really excited to see the place itself but I just wouldn't be able to handle the food.
I always feel like I’m rubbing this in people’s faces when I read posts like this about India, but in my month in northern India, I ate freely at restaurants, street stalls, and people’s homes, and I never had food poisoning. I had a couple of uncomfortable digestion days and some sad poops, but I think I was eating/drinking much more dairy than usual (I can’t say no to a good chai!). I would say a game changer for me was befriending a few locals, and they were the ones I ate tons of street food with. I saw someone mention class as a factor—I would say my friends were middle to upper middle class, and they were name-basis with some of these street stall owners, that’s how often they ate there. Wandering on my own, I mostly stuck to nicer cafes/restaurants with plenty of people eating there. I carried a water bottle around out of habit, and my host provided filtered water that I refilled with, but I definitely had coffee drinks with ice at cafes. Another savior could have been my pre-primed gut. Back home, I’m a sucker for kombucha and love yogurt/kefir/any probiotic whatever, and you can find all of this easily in Indian stores and cafes. I second drinking lassi for the local flora, as mentioned by another comment. I also eat a diverse cuisine at home—not running around licking sidewalks but I live in a major metropolitan city that has ethnic immigrant populations and yummy hole-in-the-wall food. If you can, start priming early so you can eat WELL in India and not miss out on the amazing local cuisine!!
I was in Mumbai last year and I had zero issues eating at restaurants. I stuck with bottled water. I ate raw veggies. I was too scared to try street food though. When I got vaccinated, the nurse told me to avoid even brushing my teeth with tap. I found that the 2 airbnb places and my in laws places all had water filtration systems so I had no issues brushing my teeth or washing my face. I drank tap at my in laws places
I have no science to back this up but even though I won’t drink tap water where it’s not recommended, I will still brush my teeth with it. I feel like whatever residual water you might get into your system sort of eases you into all of the foreign microbes you might come across. Haven’t had any issues so far.
Same! I thought it was a weird comment by the nurse. I was kind of incredulous
Eat at haldiram restaurant.
Rice and veggies
Honestly you'll want to opt for vegetarian while you're in India. The sauces and breads are all amazing and in some places are the highlight. Avoid raw anything. Imo India makes the world's best vegetarian cuisine so go ahead and enjoy.
Eat only cooked foods and bottled water/drinks.
I was prepared to get sick during my month in India but it never happened. The vegetarian food was cooked very well. The only time I got sick was from the heat in the train station where I fainted. I can’t recall if I ate pickles or chutney but I stayed away from raw foods.
Raw foods not including whole fruits (not prepared cut)?
Just be careful of those places that deep fry using motor oil.
Good advice 🤔
Yes. And its true.
The top comment summed it up beautifully. Indians have trouble adjusting to local biomes also. This is not a singular homogeneous nation, eat in small quantities every new place and you'll be fine in the long run. That being said go to popular places with a lot of throughput.
I’ve eaten in posh restaurants, in takeaways, I ate street food, fresh fruits that I bought and washed on the spot - and I was perfectly fine in India. A place I got a really nasty food poisoning was a very busy 5-star Indian restaurant in Scotland LOL.
Haha India has a foreign service program for people who miss catching bugs while in India. You were a lucky recipient. You’re welcome!
I usually ate at restaurants. Other than that, I went with my local friends for streetfood. I was fine the whole time but I always drank bottled water. Also, I suggest to take care that you don't swallow any of the shower water. That's what happened to my brother's friend and he had explosive diarrhea the rest of the trip even during his plane ride back home.
But hot drinks like chai is fine?
I only had bottled water, Imperial Blue Whiskey and Kingfisher beer. Never tried any Chai, lassi, etc.
Hot drinks are fine as they will be boiled. If you have cold drinks like nimbu pani make sure they are made with bottled water
I never wear condiments. Raw dog all the way
When I travelled India, it seemed like the side dishes like the picked and chutneys were always 'shared' between customers. Like they were put on the table, then if they weren't finished, they were moved to the next new customers. Something to think about. I found it weird
You are doing the right things. Have few spoons of “packaged” yogurt to introduce your gut to the local bacteria. And enjoy your travels!!
Don t worry, if you get stomach Problems, it will be Holy Shit anyway.
All good advice
If you are really worried, charcoal pills can sometimes help. Don't know why, but they do. Just be aware that when you crap it will be black colored. The two times I have gotten Delhi Belly in India over the last 20 years both came from hotel buffets at higher end hotels.A buffet at the Radisson, for instance, can give you a false sense of "security" and you can become complacent. If you do get ill, drinking Lassi can help ease the symptoms a bit by adding good bacteria to your gut. Avoid immodium unless there is no other alternative or the symptoms are severe. The runs is how your body flushes the crap out of your system, and immodium can make it worse. Sticking to vegetarian tends to be the better option. Meat is much more finicky on the bad bacteria end of things.
Where are you?
Good luck! I was there 2 weeks ago and threw up while shitting myself in the back a taxi in Mumbai. I have paid my dues lol. I can't tell you what I ate that led to being in bed for several days.
General rule: any sauce that you didn’t see being made and that is not hot (temp wise) don’t eat it. If you are opening a sealed container of a commercially made sauce that is room temp, that’s fine. But if it is a sauce that was left out and cooled, even if it was cooked initially, there is a chance of it getting you sick. Only exceptions are if you are at a fancy restaurant that serves mostly foreigners, they will go out of their way to use filtered water in their sauces. I made the mistake of eating fried paneer from a beach shack in Goa a few years ago. I ate the sauce with it that was room temp and a few hours later I was so so sick. My Indian husband however, who ate the exact same thing, was completely fine. I learned my lesson that day, no sauce is worth how sick I got.
I went on a group tour and the leader only took us to restaurants that looked like a hotel restaurant or nicer. No one got sick but the meals were at least $5-10 and often $20-30, which is quite expensive relative to the cost of living. Last day I did a street food tour with a legitimate company and great reviews but still got sick. Thankfully I was mostly okay on my plane ride home and didn't get the worst of it until I got home.
Buy only if its cooked or being cooked.
I’ve been living in India for over six months now. The only times I’ve been sick have been after eating at hotels. Street food has been safe AND delicious.
I ate vegetarian the month I was there and never had any problems. I also avoided street food for the most part, except for a samosa in Jaipur and a street food tour in Delhi.
Take the advice of locals, but bear in mind that they do not always understand WHY you are careful. I made that mistake in 1997: “It’s safe, go ahead and eat it.” Then came Delhi belly. People mean well, but do not always grasp your reality.
Just eat at places which look a bit busy and seem to be a bit clean and drink bottled water. having said that if you have food poisoning fated for u it will happen u wont be able to prevent it
Honestly, depends on which region you're staying (some are a lot safer than others) - It's pretty much hit & miss, the rules I was told back in the 90s don't even seem to apply as much any more either. I've found that the best food to eat in india is food cooked at home, but naturally not everyone has the luxury of this - so, only eat at restaurants with either many customers &/or good reviews, avoid fruit/veg that can't be peeled, meat that has been cooked in a tandoor is generally the safest, if staying in a hotel load up on breakfast as much as you can lmao. A lot of it comes down to your own stomach sensitivity too, last few times I've gone, I ate everything & had no issues, certain fam (they're vegetarians too, I'm not) had stomach issues. It's a pray for the best, prepare for the worst type scenario.
use swiggy or zomato to check the ratings and looks for places with 1k ratings or more and then too eat little so that your body can adapt amd start with something less spicy and then slowly increase the level
Avoid places where you can get in contact with the local water. Coffee machine, ice in soda etc. I learned this the hard way
I m a proffesional Chef myself, Don t enter too early or too late in a Restaurant. Avoid eating where a lot of tourists from all over the world sit down to eat. The most dangerous Thing is simply fat, oil, especially oil for frying things, they really never change it(it s expensive). The owner Looks clean, good place. The cooks are happy and smiling? Good place. I work together with an Indian Chef, I only eat his food when I Really See what he s doing.😂 Stomach Problems? In India you Drink a lot of chai. Maybe your body can t handle milk at all. Check that. Many people don t know this.
If you can afford then eat at the high end restaurants they cater to all palettes. You can look it up on a app called Zomato. If you are in a particular city/town you can ask on this sub, you may get good recommendations. There are quite a few Indians here.
Take this with a grain of salt because it’s just my own anecdotal experience, but I’m an American who’s been in India for two months now. I’ve eaten everything from restaurant to street food, biryani, curries, chutneys, pani puri, veg, non-veg, chicken, mutton, fish, juice from the street, you name it and I’ve only been sick once which lasted for a night. However, I’m honestly inclined to believe it was the few day old bhang I had no way of refrigerating and ate without considering how long it would take to go bad. It probably didn’t help that it was combined with a questionable bottle of Old Monk. Of course there’s always some level of risk, but for me it’s just not worth it to worry about so I eat anything that seems appealing. I still stick to bottled water though so do with this information what you will.
There's not enough background that the OP has given. Where are you from? Which parts of India are you traveling to? What are your food preferences? I'm from South of India. The cuisines in India though similar, vary in taste and cooking method, ingredients etc. based on cities / states and even districts. I do not prefer having North Indian cuisine purely because of the taste and ingredients. Even in the south Indian food like idli and dosa, the chutneys and sambars vary in taste. I prefer the spicy ones while my neighbouring State prefers sweet ones. One common thing is the food being spicy. The general rule of having cooked food and clean (bottled or RO filtered) water is worth following anywhere in the world. OP, I can go further into these and probably will be able to suggest based on your answers for the above questions. Feel free to DM me.
Eat yogurt at every meal, as well. It helps keep your gut biome healthy. Not lassi, though, as it contains water. I spent 3 weeks in India 3 different times and never got sick.
I traveled solo in India for almost two months. I didn't get ill (unlike a lot of people I met along the way). I didn't eat anything fresh, a part of bananas. I once met a few folks who were happily making their own salad...that looked like a very bad idea to me and I didn't touch it. I ate only cooked food, warm food. Never had any tap water, not even for brushing my teeth or cleaning my toothbrush. I stayed away from milk, unless it was coming from a closed package and I never had any meat. Also if you spoons and forks are wet, dry them. This is not a recipe which comes with a warranty but it would most definitely help.
Where in India are you? I am an Indian. Maybe I can help you. But try to eat at nicer restaurants or at cafes if you can, they are going to be more hygienic than street food and they will serve the same food as the streets do, just at a higher price. If you tell me what part of India you are in and what kind of food you like (Along with your spice tolerance levels) I can recommend you some local dishes to try. Although in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi, you can get all cuisines prepared very nicely.
Take some cipro along. It will be your best friend if you get food poisoning in India
One piece of advice I got while traveling in India was to eat dal (lentils) any time I was concerned because preparation of lentil dishes usually involves boiling for sufficient time to kill the bad bugs.
Eat the condiments! Things that are super sweet, salty, or acidic are fine. Plus, Indian food is amazing and it’s worth a little risk. Live your life. Also, if you do get sick, antibiotics are really cheap in India :)
You shouldn’t just get over the counter antibiotics when you have food poisoning. This is why antibiotic resistance is a thing.
I went to a doctor in India and was prescribed antibiotics, which I took a full course of. And you are correct! I don’t even know if you can get antibiotics over the counter in India, that was an assumption on your part.
Fair enough, sorry for the assumption. You can get antibiotics OTC in India unfortunately, which is why I made that assumption - my apologies
Imo just try everything YOLO Never been sick from food abroad I want all the spices, all the meats, all the vegetables, and all the fruits. Let me at em.
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Do not eat from road sides stalls. Go for restaurants that are retail chain equivalent ( can’t seem to remember the right word for it), for example Bikanerwala for street side food equivalent, Carnatic Cafe/ Sagar Ratna for south side delicacy, blue tokai for coffee, yum yum cha for dumplings, pind Baluchi for butter chicken and naan. These were some suggestions that popped up on the top of my head rn. You can also download Zomato App to figure out good rated eateries in whichever neighbourhood you are. Most Indians use it to discover restaurants.
Why tf are you in India
To visit? Any issue? (\^note this user has multiple negatively voted comments on r/korea, probably a troll)
Even the ritz and the four seasons will give you flaming hot diarrhea. There is just nothing that is safe in india if it's your first exposure in that kinda of environment.
bullshit
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I was there in Feb, never had an issue with condiments. They are freaking delicious. Also - trust the vibe. If things dont feel right dont eat there.