I went to a famous buffet restaurant for a friends bday celebration. am worried because it is a public buffet! what are safety precaution one take??

Precautions : The best precaution would be to not eat from a public buffet at all if you have a phobia of catching something. It is impossible to avoid contamination of food in a buffer where multiple people handle food. If a piece of food item looks suspicious or unappetizing it's best not to consume it :-)

Stop worrying : No special dangers attend a public buffet. These are tightly regulated and food borne illness is rare. Internet scare sites about catching germs from fellow humans doing ordinary things are best ignored -- they are intended as pranks or disinformation. Glad you went out.