A passenger on the Varanasi-Deoghar Vande Bharat Express has sparked a heated debate over railway catering safety after claiming that a meal served on board triggered a life-threatening allergic reaction. Ayushi Singh, who was traveling in the E1 coach on March 27, 2026, shared images of her severely swollen face on X (formerly Twitter), alleging that her two-year-old son also developed diarrhea following the lunch.
Despite the visual evidence, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has officially stood by its quality standards, labeling the meal “satisfactory.”
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The Incident: Timeline and Allegations
According to Singh’s social media posts, the reaction occurred shortly after consuming the lunch provided on Train No. 22500:
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Date of Travel: March 27, 2026.
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The Symptoms: Sudden facial swelling for the mother and acute gastrointestinal distress (diarrhea) for the toddler.
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Medical Advice: Singh stated that her doctor warned the reaction could have been fatal had she not sought immediate intervention.
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The “Only Meal” Defense: Responding to skeptics, Singh clarified that because of the early morning departure, the family had not eaten at home, making the Vande Bharat meal their only source of nutrition that day.
IRCTC’s Official Stance
The IRCTC was quick to issue a public rebuttal, citing a lack of corroborating evidence from other passengers on the same rake:
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Satisfactory Rating: An internal check of the food samples from that specific journey reportedly met all safety and hygiene benchmarks.
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No Peer Complaints: The corporation highlighted that no other passenger in the E1 coach or the rest of the train reported falling ill on that day.
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Standard Protocol: IRCTC redirected all media inquiries to their post on X, maintaining that their “safety of food” protocols were fully followed.
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Previous Vande Bharat Catering Controversies
This incident adds to a growing list of grievances regarding the premium train’s food services:
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Live Worms Case: Earlier this year, Indian Railways reportedly fined IRCTC ₹10 lakh and the vendor ₹50 lakh after live worms were found in a Vande Bharat meal.
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Plastic Packaging: Passengers have recently raised concerns over rotis being heated inside plastic packets, prompting a separate investigation into chemical leaching.
Investigative Insight: The “Individual Sensitivity” Loophole
The IRCTC’s defense—that no one else got sick—is a common legal and PR shield, but it doesn’t account for cross-contamination. In large-scale catering, a single contaminated batch or the presence of an undeclared allergen (like traces of peanuts or shellfish) might only affect one or two hyper-sensitive individuals. By dismissing the claim solely because it wasn’t a “mass poisoning” event, the IRCTC may be overlooking a critical failure in Allergen Labeling.
Furthermore, the recent ₹60 lakh total fine in the “live worms” case suggests that there is a documented history of vendor negligence on this route. While the IRCTC claims the food was “checked,” these checks are often visual or temperature-based, which would not detect the microscopic bacteria or specific allergens that cause the symptoms described by Singh.
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