Food

Food items are the consumable objects that provide means of restoring . Aside from Food, the game also puts Water, Alcohol and Coffee under the same classification when placed in the Bank. Although only Water is indispensable for the daily survival of a Citizen, all these items are essential to the survival of every Town as they allow, among other things, increase the scavenging range of citizens and make expeditions possible.

Water

Everyone knows that proper hydration is vital for survival, and this is more valid in a Desert. That's the reason why drinking from a Water Ration (or from another source of water) is absolutely vital for every citizen to avoid dying of Dehydration.

Drinking water will restore to maximum (6 for a healthy person), give the Refreshed effect, and remove the Thirsty effect. However, if you are Dehydrated!, drinking water will change your status to Thirsty and not restore any . The Refreshed effect prevents you from restoring again from water, and stops you drinking for this purpose. If you become Thirsty or Dehydrated! later on you may drink again to remove these effects.

These items are classified as Miscellaneous items. They can provide water after processing:

Food

Judging by the decaying state of civilization, or what's left of it, the odds of finding good food are close to zero. You can still find the stinky, mouldy, rotten and barely inedible remains of what once was tasty food. You can't afford to be picky if it helps you to ignore the pangs of hunger for a while.

Eating food restores your to the maximum (6 for a healthy person) and gives the Fed effect, which prevents you from eating again that day. Citizens cannot die from starvation even if they don't consume any food at all.

This has a truly bizarre taste, it's difficult to define. It does the job though: fills your stomach. On the other hand, it doesn't give you any extra energy...

Premium Food

No mold, no maggots, no horrible stench of decomposition. Just a tasty piece of good food for you. You can't find something like that very much nowadays, so enjoy!

Like regular food, Premium Food give you the Fed status, but in addition to restoring your maximum , it also gives a further bonus of 1 . (7 max for a healthy person)

Just this once does no harm, you enjoy devouring the ______. It makes a change from the usual disgusting slop... it perks you right up. You get a bonus of 1 AP !

Cannibalism

Hunger is hunger, and food is food. This is a piece of meat that probably comes from one of your neighbors, but don't let it bother you. They won't come back to life anyway. Just focus your mind, try to think it's beef or chicken and swallow it. It'll make you feel better.

In addition to restoring your to your maximum and giving the Fed effect like "normal" food, the consumption of these foods will also give you the Cannibalism distinction.

Human Flesh - Not safe to eat, as it has a chance to turn the eater into a Ghoul. This is also used in the temporary building Bait.
Meaty Bone - 50% chance of getting you Infected, unknown chance to turning into a Ghoul.
Bad news, you maybe shouldn't have swallowed that... you have been infected !
Traveller's Corpse - has a 90% chance of turning the citizen into a Ghoul, otherwise a high chance of becoming Infected.

Unprepared Food

Sometimes you just can't eat whatever's available. You have to make it edible somehow, either by opening its container or cooking it.

Unprepared food must have some action performed to make it edible. Once prepared, they will become regular food, refilling the max and giving the Fed status when used.

Dried Marshmallows - needs cooking over a Torch and becomes Burnt Marshmallows (premium food). Heroes can also cook this in a kitchen without a Torch, but creating a Tasty Homemade Dish instead.
Suspicious looking plum juice - can be eaten for no effect or cooked by a hero in a Kitchen.

Containers

You happened to find the lunch of someone, either yours or one of your unlucky neighbors. What are you waiting for? There must be some tasty food in there!

Containers, as their name implies, hold a random food item and must be opened in some manner. Once opened, the container is gone and the food will be in your inventory.

Armageddon Lunch Box - can be opened without cost or tools to give 1 premium (7 ) food. Cannot be opened if you have a hand injury.
Can - must be opened with a Can Opener, Screwdriver, or Hacksaw, or in the Workshop costing . Becomes an Open Can
Doggy Bag - can be opened without cost or tools to give 1 normal (6 ) food. Cannot be opened if you have a hand injury.
Food Parcel - requires tools to open and gives 1 food item.

Alcohol

In every period of mankind's history, people have always found a way of intoxicating themselves. Obviously, the Post-Apocalyptic desert is no exception. You can swallow a whole bottle of homemade liquor to forget your tiredness. Your body, and especially your head, won't appreciate it much the next morning, though.

Alcohol does not count as food nor water, and therefore will not grant the Fed or Refreshed status. However, it will restore your to maximum and give you the Drunk status. The next day, just after The Attack, the Drunk status will evolve into a Hungover. Both statuses prevent you from drinking further alcohol for the rest of the day.

Your head is spinning, you almost want to be sick, but at least it woke you up. Now you just need to run...

Coffee

Nothing lifts the spirit more than a good cup of coffee in the morning. This isn't your typical coffee, though. It looks bad and tastes even worse, but at least it's hot enough to keep you up for another while. Brewing coffee requires a Cafetière which is expensive to repair, and each cup (which requires a Rotting Log, a flask of Pharmaceutical Products and a Battery) is also expensive to brew.

Coffee may be drunk an unlimited number of times for no external effects, and each cup restores 4 toward your maximum.

Bloody Hot Coffee