person54321 - good point. Food avoidance doesn't help at all. I've not v* since 1994 and in that time I can barely list a thing I HAVEN'T eaten. In that time I've eaten the following many, many, many times with no ill effects.

Oysters
Shellfish and prawns
Chicken in restaurants millions of times (and pink!)
Sushi
All kinds of fast food
Rare beef
Rare lamb
Foods from deli counters
Finger buffets
Off milk (by accident haha)
Stale bread
Food past its sell-by date
Raw eggs

Since 1994, I've only dry-heaved on three occasions. These were due to the following:

1.Reaction to antibiotics I'm allergic to (1997)
2.My drink being spiked by drugs (2008)
3.Prawns (due to an intolerance I've had since a virus this winter, 2011)

And even they didn't make me actually v*! On the latest occasion I actually had a full stomach after eating a huge meal, and I still didn't v*. Just as well really. My flatmate had gone into the shower and the bathroom was out of use, so my poor friend would have got it all over her, and my bedroom would have been pretty ruined. It was potentially darkly comic!

Since 1985, when I was born, I've had food poisoning once. It was a dodgy bit of cold meat in Greece in 2003. That didn't make me v* at all. In fact, I didn't even feel nauseous. I just had bad d* for days which was cured with some antibiotics!

I'm a great believer in a wide, varied diet. I KNOW I have a strong constitution and eating as many things as possible makes it stronger. In addition, eating out at as many places as possible reduces food anxiety.