Casual home gatherings are becoming more common across the country, and many hosts are also asking guests to help provide the food. However, hosts and guests often walk into potluck season without settling basic questions in advance, such as how a dish should be labeled, who is expected to bring which part of the meal, and whether guests are supposed to take their own leftovers home.

Potluck Etiquette

According to a survey by the International Housewares Association, 57% of Americans hosted a casual, food-and-drink gathering in the past year, up from 47% the year before. A meaningful share of those hosts lean on guests to help supply the meal, with 26% saying guests usually bring about half the food and another 7% relying on guests for most of it.

Reclaiming your dish is not that simple. Whether it is acceptable to grab your own dish and go depends on more than manners. Etiquette expert Nikesha Tannehill Tyson of the Swann School of Protocol took a stricter view, saying guests should leave leftovers behind unless the host offers or insists.

Food Safety and Labels

Food safety leaves less room for interpretation than etiquette. The U.S. Department of Agriculture advises discarding perishable food left at room temperature for more than two hours, or more than one hour when the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. A more useful label lists the dish’s major ingredients and flags common allergens, ideally drawing on the nine foods the FDA classifies as major allergens.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.