Did you know that perishable food carried in an old-fashioned brown bag can be unsafe to eat by lunchtime?  Now that children and teens are back in school, it may be a good idea to take a look at how you are packing your kids' lunches.  Most food experts recommend that an insulated lunch box is the best way to keep their lunches safe.   Insulated boxes help maintain food at a safe temperature until lunchtime.   Perishable foods such as cold cut sandwiches and yogurt , can be left out at room temperature for only 2 hours before they may become unsafe to eat.   But with an insulated box and a chilled freezer gel pack , perishable food can stay cold and safe to eat until lunch.  These suggestion also apply to mom and dad who bring their lunches to work.    However, in many cases, parents have access to refrigerators at work, something the kids don't have.

Other safety tips:

Clean Hands: Wash your hands before preparing lunches, and remind  your children to wash their hands before eating.

Freeze your juice box:  When frozen they can be used as freezer packs.   By lunchtime, the juice should be thawed and ready to drink.

Hot Foods:  To keep hot foods hot, use an insulated thermos bottle.

Non-perishable Foods:   Lunch items that don't need to be refrigerated include whole fruits and vegetables, hard cheese, canned meat and fish, chips, bread,  peanut butter, jelly, pickles and mustard,

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Comments

I liked the article but thought that this was really basic information that anyone should know. However, I will continue to have my children bring their lunches to school simply because of the fact that I don't think the hot lunches prepared at the school are all that nutritious and a few schools in my state have also failed their safety inspections for not keeping food at the right temperatures or having a clean facility. I like what Maggie had to say about teaching kids about food safety. We teach them about stranger danger, water safety, and bike safety, I think food safety should be important as well.

I learned a lot from this blog. As a mother, aside from giving my 2 kids a nutritious food, I always wanted it to be safe from time of their lunch, thats why I put their lunch in a insulated box, so at the time they are ready to eat, its still hot.

When I think back to all those years ago at school where I took my lunch in a simple metal lunchbox it is a wonder that I survived and didn't get sick.The things that we take for granted amazes me.

The best way to keep children's food safe is to allow them to eat a school prepared meal. School nutrition employees in our state have been trained in food safety and sanitation as well as personal cleanliness as it pertains to handling food. This blog really helps...

Solid information about keeping food safe and children healthy. Living in Phoenix, temperature control of parishable food is vital to keeping food safe for children to eat by lunchtime. Children should be made aware at an early age about "safe food" so they can protect themselves and be aware of things like food "smelling funny" and when in doubt to ask an adult.

I honestly didn't know about this. Well, from now on I will be more cautious with food preparation and used materials that would preserved food longer.

These tips were great!. Our children should have the utmost protection from bacteria and germs. This is a good way to let parents know how to properly prepare lunch boxes for their children.