Raw food and salads during chemotherapy

Outside the low-count stretch, carefully prepared at home, usually yes. During the low-count days most teams ask you to cook everything. Ask your team which days apply to you.

Generally acceptable outside the low days if the coriander, mint and chilli were rinsed in safe water and it is eaten fresh. Avoid chutney from outside throughout, and skip it in the low stretch.

They are grown in warm, damp conditions that also suit bacteria, and washing does not make them reliably safe. Most cancer units advise against them raw. Cooked sprouts are a different matter.

Commercially made pickle in a sealed jar is generally fine, though it stings a sore mouth. Avoid loose pickle from an open jar and home fermentation where hygiene is uncertain.

Rinse under running water, then give a final rinse in boiled and cooled or filtered water. That last step is what matters most and is the one almost everybody skips.

Best avoided throughout treatment, because the water and the handling are unknown and it has often been standing. Choose freshly cooked hot dishes instead when eating out.

Washed in safe water and peeled where possible, usually yes outside the low-count days. Peeling the tomato and using fresh-cut onion served immediately is the safer version.

Lightly steamed or sautéed vegetables, cooked palak, a vegetable soup, or peeled fruit cut at home. You lose very little and remove the question entirely.