Visiting with family and friends over long leisurely meals or grazing on buffet-style spreads while watching football games for hours is an integral part of many holiday settings. For the safety of your guests, however, make sure your holiday banquet doesnt turn into a rampant bacteria buffet.
One out of every four Americans suffers from some type of food-borne illness each year, says Lona Sandon, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. To make sure youre spreading holiday cheer and not holiday food poisoning, dont leave food out for more than two hours at a time. Two hours is a critical time, after which bacteria begin to multiply rapidly.
If youre watching calorie intake, Sandon offers another suggestion. Provide smaller plates for holiday feasts. You also can place holiday offerings in smaller serving dishes.
The result: guests tend to take smaller portions.In addition, if your buffet table is loaded with more choices than you should take, consider passing on foods that you can eat any time, such as mashed potatoes, she said. Go for those special items that you only get once a year, such as Grannys sweet potato pie.
Source: UT Southwestern MedicalCenter at Dallas
Â
Â
Â
What Lies Beneath: Why Borescopes Are Essential for Verifying Surgical Instrument Cleanliness
July 16th 2025Despite their smooth, polished exteriors, surgical instruments often harbor dangerous contaminants deep inside their lumens. At the HSPA25 and APIC25 conferences, Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, and her colleagues revealed why borescopes are an indispensable tool for sterile processing teams, offering the only reliable way to verify internal cleanliness and improve sterile processing effectiveness to prevent patient harm.
The Next Frontier in Infection Control: AI-Driven Operating Rooms
Published: July 15th 2025 | Updated: July 15th 2025Discover how AI-powered sensors, smart surveillance, and advanced analytics are revolutionizing infection prevention in the OR. Herman DeBoard, PhD, discusses how these technologies safeguard sterile fields, reduce SSIs, and help hospitals balance operational efficiency with patient safety.
Targeting Uncertainty: Why Pregnancy May Be the Best Time to Build Vaccine Confidence
July 15th 2025New national survey data reveal high uncertainty among pregnant individuals—especially first-time parents—about vaccinating their future children, underscoring the value of proactive engagement to strengthen infection prevention.
CDC Urges Vigilance: New Recommendations for Monitoring and Testing H5N1 Exposures
July 11th 2025With avian influenza A(H5N1) infections surfacing in both animals and humans, the CDC has issued updated guidance calling for aggressive monitoring and targeted testing to contain the virus and protect public health.