Have a hygienic Christmas

The team from NetVoucherCodes.co.uk have revealed some of the best ways to enjoy a clean and safe Christmas this year.

Normal Christmas meals, such as buffets, should be avoided wherever possible and using disposable cutlery should help avoid cross contamination.

Christmas chocolates should also be enjoyed with caution – opt for wrapped individual chocolates and ensure hands have been washed before helping yourself.

A spokesperson for NetVoucherCodes.co.uk said: “Even with the three-household rule across the UK, Christmas isn’t going to look like normal for many of us.

“In order to make it as safe as possible, certain practices will have to be avoided or adapted for the current circumstances.

“Using common sense and ensuring personal hygiene rules, such as catching coughs and sneezes, and ensuring hands are washed regularly will also go a long way.”

These are NetVoucherCodes.co.uk’s tips to have a hygienic Christmas:

1. Christmas cards

It’s normal practice to lick a Christmas card envelope to ensure it is closed. Instead, get a small amount of water and cotton wool, dip the cotton wool into the water and then wipe along the edges of the envelope. Alternatively, use Sellotape to stick the envelope flap down.

2. Buffets

Buffets are commonly enjoyed over the Christmas period, whether it be a buffet full of boxing day leftovers, or a picky tea on Christmas Eve. If you still plan to serve a buffet, ensure every dish has tongs and cutlery so people don’t need to touch and pick up the food they want to eat. Ensure everyone washes their hands before going to the buffet to stop cross-contamination on the serving receptacle. Alternatively, serve up small parts of each dish onto everyone’s individual plate.

3. Chocolate boxes

Boxes full of chocolate or even trays of luxurious chocolates are common at Christmas, but this year we should be opting for individually wrapped chocolates and trying to touch as little as possible. Ensure hands are washed before reaching for the chocolates and try to keep unwrapped chocolate trays to individual households to avoid cross contamination.

4. Passing Christmas presents

When Christmas presents are under the tree it’s normal for the person closest to the tree to pass them to the relevant person. This year, label presents clearly and on Christmas Day only touch presents which are labelled for you. Try and limit the amount of people touching everything.

5. Wrapping

Ensure that before you touch any presents or wrapping paper, that you have washed or sanitised your own hands and the surface which you will be wrapping the presents on. Try and limit the amount of time you touch everything for – this isn’t the year for presents which have been painstakingly and fancily wrapped.