A Vande Bharat passenger has claimed that eating the food served on the train gave her a severe allergic reaction, while her two-year-old son developed diarrhoea. Ayushi Singh shared a picture of her swollen face on the social media platform X, requesting the Railways to look into the issue.
The official X account of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) responded to her post by saying the food was checked and found satisfactory, and no other passengers raised complaints.
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Vande Bharat passenger complains
Singh said in her X post that her allergy could have been life threatening. She said she was travelling on the Varanasi Deoghar Vande Bharat Express on March 27 when eating the train food made her face swell up.
“I was travelling in Vande Bharat 22500 E1 coach on 27.3.26 and after consuming lunch, I developed a severe allergy which could have been life threatening. My Son (2 yrs) too developed diarrhoea,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“I was travelling in Vande Bharat 22500 E1 coach on 27.3.26 and after consuming lunch, I developed a severe allergy which could have been life threatening. My Son (2 yrs) too developed diarrhoea,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}In a follow-up post, Singh added another picture of her swollen face. “After consulting a doctor, I was told that it could have been life threatening had I not consulted immediately,” she wrote.
IRCTC responds
IRCTC responded to Singh’s post to say that the food on that particular Vande Bharat route had been checked and found satisfactory. Furthermore, no other passengers had complained about it.
“Lunch on Train No. 22500 BSB-DGHR Vande Bharat Express (Coach E1) on 27.03.2026 was checked & found satisfactory. No other complaints received reg. Quality/Hygiene or safety of food on the day,” responded the official account of IRCTC on X.
When HT.com reached out to IRCTC for a comment, we were redirected to the official response on X.
(Also read: Vande Bharat passenger raises concern over rotis heated in plastic packets, IRCTC responds)
Singh pushed back at IRCTC’s claim, saying she and her son ate only the food served on the train. “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!!” she wrote.