If you have cancer, you may not have much of an appetite, particularly during or after your treatment sessions. However, eating well is important to help your body cope with both the disease and treatment. And just as there are healthy foods to add to your diet, there are some foods to avoid with cancer. Some foods may put you at risk for foodborne illness, or food poisoning, while others may cause pain or make you feel more ill. Talk to your doctor about the right nutrition plan during your treatment, but generally, it’s a good idea to keep these foods out of your diet if you’re living with cancer. If your treatment has caused side effects like nausea, taste changes, or mouth sores, you probably have already started your own mental list of foods you'd much rather steer clear of. However, there are some foods that no matter how good they sound are probably best avoided due to the risk of foodborne illness, aka food poisoning. Because some treatments can weaken your immune system until at least a few weeks after they’ve ended (longer if you had a stem cell/bone marrow transplant), food poisoning is not something to tempt. The results of developing a foodborne illness can be serious.Eating raw or undercooked foods is a common cause of food poisoning. Proper cooking destroys bacteria, but they can start to grow on cooked food if it is left out or in the refrigerator for too long. Food also can become contaminated when someone infected with a virus or other “bug” handles it.Paying attention to food safety rules and being extra careful when handling, preparing, and storing food is definitely important. However, some people who are receiving or have recently finished cancer treatment should avoid some foods entirely, even if they may have eaten them with no problems in the past.