Not since the famous Seinfeld episode has double-dipping been so ripe for debate.

In a show first aired in 1993, George Costanza gets called out at a party for loading his tortilla chip twice at the dip bowl. “That’s like putting your whole mouth right in the dip!” another guest tells him.

“I’ll dip the way I want to dip,” George replies unrepentantly – and then dips again.

Normally, this behaviour would simply be uncouth. But with cases of H1N1 expected to rise substantially this fall, more people are likely to speak up about double-dipping – or they’ll avoid dipping at all. Indeed, for some, “social distancing” may be the new social networking.

This weekend, as Toronto’s entertaining season kicks off with a whirl of film-fest parties, swine flu is most definitely taking a back seat to celeb-spotting. But behind the scenes, some caterers are adjusting the way they plate and serve food, while etiquette experts are considering the implications of handshakes and cheek-kissing.

“I don’t want to be alarmist, but the plain fact of the matter is it’s human nature to double-dip,” says Ted Allen, a New York-based food and lifestyle expert who devoted a segment of his show Food Detectives to snacking faux pas (he can currently be seen on Chopped , a new race-against-the-clock cooking competition on the Food Network).

But if there’s anything more unsettling than catching a double dipper in action, it might be a server in a face mask.

“That doesn’t exactly say hospitality, does it?” says Allen, who was in Toronto recently.

And therein lies the key challenge of flu-season entertaining: being cautious without spoiling the party.

For Michael Garam, the director of infectious diseases at the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, the message is simple: Use common sense. “People should have their parties,” he says. “But if you’re home and you’re hacking up a lung and you have a fever, don’t go.”

Because the virus is respiratory and cannot live in the gastrointestinal tract, Garam is not overly worried about food being a vector. “If someone is serving a soufflé and coughs, the organism will live there, yes,” he says, adding that you’re much more likely to be infected by someone coughing on a surface that you touch with a finger that then rubs your eye.

Cindy Post Senning, great-granddaughter of etiquette maven Emily Post and a director of the Emily Post Institute, agrees that the onus is on everyone to be his own first line of defense, from washing hands frequently to doing the sleeve sneeze.

But what happens if a hand that just caught a cough is then extended in greeting? “If a $10-million contract is on the line, I might shake that person’s hand,” she says. It goes without saying that you wash your hand at the earliest opportunity.

But don’t play favorites, she says by phone from Burlington, Vt. “If you take that tack, take that tack and say, ‘Right now while this epidemic is on, I really would rather not, but I’m so delighted to meet you.’ Be honest with everyone in the room. What I wouldn’t do is say no to one person and yes to the next.”

And yes, it’s okay to discourage double-dipping. “I do think in an atmosphere where we’re trying to stop the spread, you can say, ‘We’re asking people not to double-dip.’ … You don’t want to put someone down, but I think you can fall back on it.”

Caterers are also making efforts to educate employees about how the H1N1 virus spreads, which, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website, is through “inhalation of the virus expelled by infected individuals when coughing or sneezing and by touching any surface that is contaminated with the virus and then touching the mouth, nose or eyes.”

As Jackie Brown, manager of operations for Eatertainment, a special events and restaurant company in Toronto, says, “the main point for us is that it’s not caused by the food but by the people handling it.” Last year, all senior managers at the company were re-certified in food-handling safety. Hand sanitizers are now a staple in chefs’ kits.

While Brown has drafted a memo to staff about knowing H1N1 symptoms and taking precautions, she doesn’t want to overplay the risks. “I think the big thing is not to set that level of fear. It’s the flu; we deal with the flu every year.”

Dee Gibson of Toronto-based Catering With Style says offering food that is “self-contained” can make the difference between people passing around the hors d’oeuvre and passing on them.

Long before H1N1, she had been spacing canapés at least an inch and a half apart. She uses skewers to minimize finger contact and, in the case of poached shrimp, dollops sauce onto a small individual serving plate with the shrimp placed on top, no dipping required.

Gibson points to the SARS outbreak of 2002-03 as a wake up call to the Toronto hospitality industry. “People just didn’t go out and didn’t entertain; they were canceling and not re booking until things calmed down,” she says. “There was a six-week period when things went dead for everyone.”

Restaurateurs Guy and Michael Rubino also paid attention to SARS and have tweaked their new Toronto restaurant accordingly. Ame, which opened last month in the location of their previous hot spot, Rain, features wood-beam accents and moody lighting. With the look of an industrial temple, it’s set to be a busy film-fest destination (a post-screening party for Demi Moore and David Duchovny’s movie The Joneses is set to unfold there tomorrow night).

But the open kitchen is equipped with five more sanitation stations than previously and, when people request chopsticks, they now receive a disposable set. “I think you need to go to places where you’re sure standards are being met,” Michael Rubino says.

While a sensible proprietor would never allow a sick person to prepare or serve food, symptoms can start off so mildly that some people may continue to work. Then there are the old chef’s habits – dipping a finger into a sauce or reusing a spoon for tasting – that may be too ingrained to shake. After all, “cooking is a soulful act of loving and sharing,” Allen points out.

By the same token, Rubino would be loath to discourage diners from sharing dishes from the Japanese-inflected menu. “As humans, we like to socialize,” he says. “What are we going to do, go hide under a rock?”

If you’re really adamant on not shaking hands, Senning Post believes it’s ok to say, “Normally the germ thing doesn’t worry me but I decided last week that won’t shake hands. Nonetheless I’m so delighted to meet you.” That way, she explains, “You’re acknowledging the understanding of a respectful greeting while still making a respectful greeting.”

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Expert tips

Single servings

“Instead of having crudités with a bowl of Hidden Valley Ranch in the middle,” food-show host Ted Allen says, “I think it’s a great idea to make individual canapés. It’s a lot more work, but if this is something you’re concerned about, it’s a smart way to approach it.”

Dee Gibson of Catering with Style in Toronto often uses skewers to reduce finger contact. “Although it becomes a waste issue, you need something like that when you don’t want people touching and cross-contaminating the food,” she says.

Asian soup spoons with flat bottoms allow sauce and food to marry in a self-contained space.

Be consistent

If you plan to decline handshaking or cheek-kissing, ensure that you don’t make any exceptions, says Cindy Post Senning of the Emily Post Institute. “Never say no to one person and yes to the next. Remember to do what’s respectful and honest.”

Space out items

Gibson recommends spacing hors d’oeuvre at least an inch and a half apart.

Discourage double-dipping

Have a server dish it out if there is a single bowl of food at a serving station. If a server sees someone double-dipping, the dip should be replaced. This means having extra.

Cleanliness, cleanliness

Post Senning recommends supplying powder rooms with plenty of soap, hand sanitizer and paper towels. “People will be more conscious that way.” And have plenty of fresh wineglasses; the rule is three per guest.