A health expert has warned people not to accept certain foods in restaurants or bars after a person claimed to have been hospitalized because of it.

It’s not an uncommon experience to show up at a fancy bar and have your drink garnished, or at a nice restaurant to have some pretty fancy-looking side dishes on your plate.

And if you like gin and rum, or maybe a fruity cocktail every now and then, it’s rare that the drink is served with just ice.

But one health expert warns that you should expect something specific from the bartender when serving you a drink – and it’s probably something we’ve all done a hundred times.

A health expert warned that there is one thing you should always avoid in restaurants and bars. (Getty Stock Images)

According to Vicky Derosa, who shared her advice on TikTok, you should generally avoid fruit-shaped garnishes.

So no lemons, limes, oranges – and the list goes on.

She even went so far as to say that she would “never touch” a lemon given to her in a bar, and there seems to be a legitimate reason for that.

Speaking to her 410,000 followers, she said: “As a health professional and as someone who has been involved in health for over 40 years, there is one thing I would never touch in a restaurant.

“Not in a restaurant, not in a bar, anywhere, without me buying it, washing it and slicing it.

According to health experts, citrus fruits contain many toxins. (Getty Stock Images)

“Lemon, lime, orange. Don’t do it.”

She explained further: “Citrus fruits are some of the dirtiest things. They contain so many toxins.

“So when you get a glass of water, when you order a drink at a bar, tell them, ‘Please don’t put a lemon slice in it, please don’t put a lime slice in it. They’re not washed.'”

She even claimed that restaurants could be lying to us when they say their lemons are “organic.”

The expert said, “How many restaurants even buy organic lemons? I’m really compassionate and really kind… but I’m not sure I buy those.”

And users quickly agreed in the comments.

One said, “As a former waitress, I agree,” and another claimed that the first thing medical staff asked them after they were admitted to the hospital was if they “had put a lemon in their drink at the restaurant.”

One even said he was hospitalized because he contracted salmonella after eating at a restaurant, and the first thing the CDC asked him was if he had “put a lemon in his drink at the restaurant.”