10 Foods That Cause Food Poisoning

Food poisoning affects millions of people in world every year, often due to eating contaminated or poorly handled food. With rich street food culture and varied home-cooked dishes, many people unknowingly consume risky foods. In this article, we’ll highlight 10 common foods that cause food poisoning and show you how to avoid them.

1. Street Chaat and Pani Puri

Millions love street chaat like pani puri (golgappa), but it frequently causes food poisoning. Street vendors often use unfiltered water and leave ingredients exposed to open air, allowing bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella to thrive.

How to stay safe: Choose hygienic vendors and avoid street chaat during the monsoon, when contamination risks rise.

2. Cut Fruits Sold in the Open

Vendors often display pre-cut watermelon, papaya, and pineapple in open carts. These fruits attract flies and absorb dust and pollutants, making them ideal carriers for harmful bacteria.

How to stay safe: Buy whole fruits and cut them at home. If you must buy from vendors, make sure they cut the fruit fresh in front of you.

3. Leafy Vegetables (Spinach, Coriander, Lettuce)

Farmers sometimes grow leafy greens using contaminated water or untreated manure. If you don’t clean these vegetables properly, you may ingest dangerous microbes or pesticide residue.

How to stay safe: Wash leafy vegetables thoroughly in running water. Soak them in vinegar or saltwater before use.

4. Dairy Products (Milk, Curd, Paneer)

Contaminated or unpasteurized milk and milk products like paneer and curd often lead to food poisoning. Poor refrigeration or unhygienic storage promotes the growth of bacteria such as Listeria and E. coli.

How to stay safe: Always boil milk and buy dairy items from reliable, cold-chain-supported vendors.

5. Chicken and Mutton

Raw or undercooked meat remains a major source of foodborne illness in India. Salmonella, Campylobacter, and other bacteria thrive in meat that hasn’t been properly cleaned or cooked.

How to stay safe: Cook meat thoroughly until it’s no longer pink. Use separate utensils and cutting boards for raw meat.

6. Eggs

Vendors and households often use cracked or stale eggs. When undercooked, eggs can carry Salmonella, which leads to severe food poisoning.

How to stay safe: Discard cracked eggs. Cook eggs until both the white and yolk are firm.

7. Seafood (Prawns, Fish, Crab)

Poor storage conditions and high temperatures make seafood spoil quickly, especially in coastal or hot areas. Spoiled seafood can cause severe reactions like shellfish poisoning.

How to stay safe: Buy seafood early in the day from trusted sellers. Cook it the same day and refrigerate leftovers immediately.

8. Reheated Rice

Many people leave cooked rice at room temperature for hours, which allows Bacillus cereus bacteria to grow. This bacteria survives cooking and can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

How to stay safe: Store rice in the fridge within two hours of cooking and reheat it thoroughly only once before eating.

9. Pickles and Fermented Foods

Homemade pickles and fermented items can become unsafe if not stored properly. Mold and bacteria like Clostridium botulinum can grow when the oil or salt content is too low or when storage containers aren’t clean.

How to stay safe: Use sterilized jars, and follow proper recipes with enough salt, oil, or vinegar to preserve the food safely.

10. Sweets and Desserts (Ladoo, Rasgulla, Halwa)

Sweets made from milk or khoya, like rasgulla and halwa, spoil quickly without refrigeration. Vendors often display sweets uncovered for long hours, increasing the risk of bacterial contamination.

How to stay safe: Buy sweets from hygienic shops and eat them the same day. Refrigerate leftovers and avoid sweets that have been sitting out too long.

Conclusion

India’s delicious cuisine offers incredible variety, but some popular foods pose real risks when not handled with care. You can avoid food poisoning by making informed choices, practicing good hygiene, and staying alert when eating out or storing food at home.

Always remember: Clean, Cook, Cover, and Chill—these four actions can save you from most foodborne illnesses.