Here's Why Tourists and Locals Should Avoid Train Food in India

The Indian railway is the ‘lifeline of the country’, and around 23 million people ride this lifeline every day. Quality of food served on board, however, has often received flak from the travellers, and a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) blew the lid off low-quality of food and poor hygienic standards maintained by the Indian Railways. According to the report, the train food in India is deemed as ‘not suitable’ for human consumption. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Together with the railways, CAG team recently audited the food quality and hygiene standards across 80 trains and 74 railway stations, and the resulting CAG report found that the food served in Indian trains is sub par, with severe flaws in the food hygiene standards: food is not covered, kept in open spaces and infested with cockroaches, flies, insects and rats as a result; furthermore, expired items are still offered, and the water used for making food and drink is unpurified, directly from the tap. Plus, dustbins sit uncovered and unemptied, with garbage spilling out. Consequently, people travelling by train frequently deal with stomach infections.