When making your list and checking it twice, don't forget about food safety during the holiday season. "While the pace is hectic, it's crucial to slow down in the kitchen and remember the importance of food safety, so that friends and family don't leave with any unwanted gifts, such as E. Coli or Salmonella," says Debra Holtzman, J.D, M.A, an internationally acclaimed safety and health expert and best-selling author of "The Safe Baby: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety and Healthy Living (Sentient Publications, 2009).

Debra Holtzman offers tips for keeping healthy and worry-free when hosting friends, family and pets:

1.  Always use a food thermometer to be sure foods are safely cooked. Food-borne illness causes approximately 5,000 deaths each year in the US.

2. Buy pasteurized juices and cider. Pasteurization is a heat process that kills harmful bacteria. If you aren't sure if a product is pasteurized, boil it for a minute and let cool before serving

3. When preparing homemade eggnog always use pasteurized eggs. Raw eggs could be contaminated with salmonella. The store-sold eggnog in cartons is pasteurized

4. Don't leave party platters at room temperature for over two hours, where bacteria can grow to harmful levels. Arrange food on small platters and replace them often with fresh, refrigerated platters of food. (Using a kitchen timer is a good idea because we can easily lose track of time with so much going on.)

5. Hot foods on buffet tables should be held at 140 °F or warmer. You can keep hot foods hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers and warming trays. Cold foods should be held at 40 °F or colder. Keep foods cold by nesting dishes in bowls of ice

6. Foil-wrapped baked potatoes should be kept hot or refrigerated to prevent botulism. Also, avoid using green or sprouted potatoes. They contain a toxin called solanine, which can cause gastrointestinal problems.

7. Keep spiked holiday punch and eggnog out of the reach of children and pets.  Alcohol affects children (and pets) more drastically than adults, so even small amounts can be very dangerous. Remove all partially empty cups as soon as possible

8. Keep your chocolate desserts and goodies out of reach of pets. Chocolate is toxic, and sometimes even fatal, for animals. The toxic substance which chocolate contains is called theobromine, a compound that is very similar to caffeine. Baker's chocolate (pure, unsweetened chocolate or cocoa powder) is the most dangerous.

Other food items that can be toxic to pets include caffeine products (coffee, tea), garlic, grapes, raisins, avocado, macadamia nuts, and sugarless chewing gum and products containing xylitol

9. Refrigerate custard-type pies, including homemade lemon meringue varieties and pumpkin pie. If you store these pies at room temperature, they can grow dangerous bacteria.

10. Ask guests beforehand if they or their children are allergic to any food. Also, keep out of reach of young children firm, round food, such as popcorn, nuts and candy canes because they pose a choking risk

Lastly, wash hands thoroughly before and after handling food, beverages or utensils. And keep up-to-date on all product recalls and safety alerts. Visit www.recalls.gov

Debra Holtzman has a master's degree in occupational health and safety, is an attorney and is the mother of two children and a dog. She has appeared on major TV news and radio shows around the world, and was chosen an "Everyday Hero" by Reader's Digest Magazine. She teaches infant safety and CPR classes at a regional hospital. Her newest book, "The Safe Baby: A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Home Safety and Healthy Living" (Sentient Publications, 2009) provides lots of money savings tips and easy-to-implement solutions to provide a safe, healthy, and green living lifestyle for children and pets. It also shows you how to get back to the basics of childrearing.

Interviews may be arranged via http://thesafetyexpert.com