How to Eat Street Food in India Without Getting Sick On Your Trip?

Real Hacks to avoid getting sick on your next trip to India

#1. Prepare your gut even before you land

Most people fell sick from Indian street food on their first bite. Mainly, an unprepared gut is more likely to get sick than a prepared one.

Here is how you can prepare your gut 1-2 weeks before travel:

● Start a daily probiotic to build good gut bacteria

● Ask your doctor for a Hepatitis A vaccine

● Pack some activated charcoal capsule that absorbs toxins fast

● Pack Oral Rehydration Salt’s sachets (ORS) available at every Indian pharmacy

#2. How to Read a Street Food Stall in India?

Make sure you check these three things before ordering anything online:

The most common signal to know if a food stall sells unhealthy food is by looking for the crowd or turnover. If it is high, it means their products sell out quickly and are replaced with fresh batches. The constant demand naturally prevents food from sitting out at room temperature, the key reason why harmful bacteria sit and multiply on food. However, there is still a slight chance that poor personal hygiene can also affect the quality of food.

#3. Safest Street Foods to Eat in India

#4. The Water Rule (Real Culprit for Contaminated Street Food)

According to an interesting fact, the majority of the street vendors in India use tap water to either make or clean their dishes. But that same tap water in India is the root cause of most food-related illnesses, not the food itself. There is no specific list of what not to eat in India as a tourist. Meanwhile, tap water and personal hygiene are major courses on food poisoning.

So, never use tap water and only go for sealed bottled water. Likewise, only eat at the stalls using bottled water. In fact, it is advisable to brush your teeth with the same. Likewise, drink fresh juices only when they are freshly pressed in front of you.

#5. On-the-Ground Habits That Actually Work

These are some important street food safety rules that you need to follow to avoid getting sick from eating Indian street food:

● Wash your hands before every meal (use soap and water)

● Prefer vegetarian meals wherever possible

● Don’t overeat

● Eat slowly, especially on day one, (gut needs 24 to 48 hours to adjust to the new environment)

● Carry your own fork or spoon

● Avoid a buffer with food sitting for extended periods

● Eat where locals eat at peak times for fresh food

#6. If You Do Get Sick (Here’s what to do)

In case you get sick from missing out on any precaution, do not panic. Most of the food poisoning cases in India last from 24 to 48 hours and pass on their own. But stop eating any solid food when you feel the symptoms and start ORS Sachets in bottled water.

In fact, immediately take activated charcoal tablets that can absorb toxins from the gut. Meanwhile, stay hydrated because dehydration might cause diarrhoea. Yet if your body experiences any other symptoms, visit a doctor immediately.

Your Indian Street Food Packaging List

Summing up

Indian street food is not the enemy of your health, but unpreparedness can make you end up on the wrong side of it. Therefore, this guide entails how you can avoid getting sick from street food in India, including everything to help you. The travellers who get sick are often the ones who either ate everything without thinking, or they were so scared that they missed the best food of their lives. But to end up at neither of the sides, you must prepare your gut, read the stall, avoid water, and carry a small precautionary kit. If you did not carry it, use
1 mg in India to get it at your doorstep within a few minutes. Needless to say, India’s street food is worth the effort of doing it right.