Rancid meal in time causes illness (7)
I believe the answer is:
ailment
'illness' is the definition.
(an ailment is an illness or health problem)
'rancid meal in time causes' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'time' could be 't' (abbreviation) and 't' is present in the answer.
'causes' could be 'men' (man is a kind of cause) and 'men' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ail' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ailment that I've seen before include "infirmity" , "I lament (anag.)" , "Slight but persistent illness" , "Tim Alen has an odd indisposition." , "Tummy upset, for instance" .)