With Thanksgiving only three weeks away and the flu season in full force, you may want to reconsider how you usually serve, cater, or eat at holiday events.  We are more susceptible at the holidays than any other time of the year to spread harmful viruses and bacteria since we are generally indoors in large crowds, we tend to eat/drink more at the holidays while sleeping less (reducing the effectiveness of our immune systems), and we travel more, increasing the chance of bringing more germs back home with us.

While I know many of us already take extra care to reduce the spread of germs at our gatherings, keeping our families and friends as healthy as possible, coupled with the added risk this year thanks to the H1N1 virus, these extra precautions may be necessary and are worth the extra effort for our safety.

Individual serving sizes are essential
Think about how many double dippers there are in your family – do you (or your guests) really want to be dipping into the same vegetable dip as these culprits?  Whenever it is possible, put your offerings up as individual servings. For example, if you are serving any type of dip, try placing it into paper or plastic soufflé cups first. That way, Uncle Frank can double dip as much as he wants, without putting the other guests at risks. Serving a fruit & cheese platter? Place toothpicks into ever piece of cheese & fruit, that way, no will be tempted to use their fingers.

Hold a drink in your right hand
Its no secret that the more hands you shake, the more germs you are spreading. Since it’s not always possible to pull out your instant hand sanitizer after shaking someone’s hand, another blogger recently suggested always carry a drink (Water is always a good choice) in your right hand. This way, you won’t offend someone by not shaking his or her hand, while your hands will stay germ free.

Little reminders go a long way
We all know good hygiene practices, but sometimes we (especially our children) need a little extra reminder of good table manners. At any non-black tie affair, it would not be inappropriate to include a line in your toast or speech reminding everyone to please use caution while self-serving so everyone stays healthy during the holidays. If you are afraid you might offend some guests, simple place friendly reminders about the flu epidemic on tent cards on the buffet or throughout your home (Don’t place them on the dinner table though – no one wants to look at flu reminders while they are eating).

I hope these hints help make your holidays more enjoyable for you and your loved ones. From the CleaningProductsWorld.com family to yours, we wish you a happy, healthy, safe, and enjoyable holiday season.