Deoghar: A female passenger has alleged that she suffered "severe" allergy reaction after consuming the food served on Vande Bharat while travelling from Varanasi to Deoghar. Her viral post reignited concerns over the quality and hygiene of food served by Indian Railways. It also sparked a probe by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
The woman, who was travelling on Vande Bharat Express train number 22500 on March 27 in coach E1, claimed she developed a severe allergic reaction after eating the lunch served onboard, with her upper lips swelling up visibly. She added that her two-year-old son also fell ill and developed diarrhoea after eating the lunch.
Sharing photographs of her swollen lips along with a doctor's prescription, the woman tagged Railway Seva, IRCTC and the Railway Ministry to her post on X, which later went viral. She claimed that the allergic reaction could have turned “life-threatening” had she not received medical treatment had been delayed.
She added, "Woke up around 10 in the morning, lips started swelling. That's when I realised this is pretty serious."
Alleging that her complaints were not heard with sensitivity, the woman said, “Worst quality food provided on Vande Bharat Express and insensitive attitude of staff towards complaints.”
IRCTC replied to the woman's viral post, saying that following the woman's complaint, the lunch served on Train No. 22500 BSB-DGHR Vande Bharat Express (Coach E1) on 27.03.2026 was checked. It added that the food was found “satisfactory”.
Further, it said that no other complaints was received by other passengers that day regarding the quality, safety or hygiene of the food.
The woman expressed disappointment at IRCTC's response, saying, "I am glad that no one else fell ill. But I and my son did. As our train was scheduled for early morning, we couldn't have breakfast at home. So whatever we ate was in Vande Bharat only. But clearly this doesn't matter to you as we were the ONLY ones who suffered!!"
Recently, there was another complaint about food served in Vande Bharat. There were allegations that the Amul curd served to passengers on a Patna-Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express train was spoilt and contained worms. An investigation was held, following which IRCTC was fined ₹10 lakh and the private catering contractor was fined ₹50 lakh.
