Sometimes, when you’re on vacation, one of the things you look forward to the most in the mornings is a free continental breakfast at your hotel.

We love breakfast buffets!

But, if you’re like some of us, there’s a part of your brain that won’t stop thinking about who’s been touching all the utensils, and what temperature is everything being kept at? The truth is that any food could give you food poisoning if it’s been handled incorrectly, but if you’re doing all you can to avoid it on your vacation, here are the foods that experts say you should avoid at breakfast buffets.

If It’s Supposed To Be Hot Or Cold, MAKE SURE It’s Hot and Cold

At many breakfast buffets, you’ll find many hot options like sausage, eggs, bacon, etc., as well as cold options such as yogurt, milk, or juice. While experts don’t say to stay away from these things in entirety, pay close attention to if these options are being kept on a warmer and/or being kept cold to their correct temperature.

Bacon and Eggs

If you want to be extra safe, you can avoid these options all together, but as long as they’re being kept in a refrigerator or on a stovetop/burner at the correct temperature, you should be good to go. But if they’re just sitting out? That’s a BIG no.

Grits and oatmeal

Once foods such as these are left out at temperatures 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit for longer than 2 hours, you’re hitting the danger zone. And most buffets are active for much longer than 2 hours at a time, so if you notice things aren’t at their proper temperature, move right along!

SOME Fruits and Vegetables

Now this one is a little tricky, so we’ll start with the easy part — whole fruits and vegetables like oranges and bananas are all good to eat and have very little risk associated with them. However, cut fruits and things like salad bars are where things get a little more particular.

Salad Bar

For example — melons are risky because many people don’t wash the rinds (the outside), and if there’s a crack in the outside, bacteria can seep into the inside of the fruit that you’re eating. Salad bars can have a number of fruits and vegetables that may not have been properly washed.

Boma’s Salad Bar

To play it extra safe, stick with whole, uncut fruits, or stay away from fruits and vegetables that are soggy or hard to clean.

Doesn’t Have A Shared Utensil? NOPE.

Many items at a buffet need to be grabbed with a utensil to place it directly onto your plate without touching the other food around it. If you happen to notice there’s an offering that doesn’t have a shared utensil, health experts recommend not partaking in that offering.

Danishes

Just like you’d have to grab the item with your hand, other guests have been doing that too, and there’s no telling what germs they have on their hands. Now, getting sick from this isn’t technically food poisoning, since it’s from other guests, but it does still involve food, and there’s an easy way to avoid it.

Croissants

For one, only choose options that have a utensil to use to grab the food, BUT there’s a second part. Before you eat ANYTHING, wash your hands! Everyone is touching the different utensils, so those germs could just as easily get on your food and into your mouth if you don’t wash your hands before. We know, we know, your hungry and just want to eat, but it’s worth it in the long run.

So What IS Safe?

You can’t live your life in fear (well, some of us do and can’t help it, but YOU probably shouldn’t if you can help it), but taking precautions to avoid getting sick and ruining your trip is worth it to us.

Breakfast Buffet Options

We know we cut out a lot of the offerings at your hotel buffet, but experts say that some of the safest options to choose are pre-packaged muffins and yogurt offerings (kept at the correct temperature), and we’d also like to add on that bread offerings such as croissants and danishes are also okay left at room temperature, so as long as they have tongs, you’re good to go!

Biscuits

While food poisoning can and unfortunately does happen at Disney World, Disney restaurants typically hold themselves to a very high standard, so we’d like to THINK that it’s less likely to get food poisoning from improperly handled food at Disney World, but mistakes do happen. There’s probably a far greater risk of getting sick from germs spread by other people visiting Disney World, which is why hand washing is so important! We’re always here to keep you updated on the latest Disney news, so stay tuned to DFB!

One of our writers got food poisoning at Disney World — here’s what happened

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Have you ever gotten sick with food poisoning from a Disney restaurant? Tell us in the comments!