Tips To Safely Pack A Hot And Cold Lunch For Back-To-School
Foods can quickly go from safe to unsafe if they aren’t stored properly, and the last thing you want is for your kid to miss school due to food poisoning. There are ways that you can safely pack both hot and cold items in your children’s lunchboxes with no risk of illness.
1. Clean Prep
Before you begin packing your lunches, make sure that your food preparation space has been cleaned and sanitized and that your hands are washed. Most bacteria are transferred to our bodies from our hands.
2. Don’t Touch
Don’t touch your phone, hair, or face while you are doing your lunch prep because it can transfer bacteria to your food. If you have to stop and touch your phone, wash your hands before continuing your lunch prep.
3. Plan Ahead
Pack your cold lunch the night before. This gives it all night to get good and cold, so it has a good head start once you take it out of the refrigerator.
4. Use Ice Packs
Use at least two ice packs to keep things good and cold. You can purchase ice packs that are specifically designed to fit inside a lunch box.
5. Freeze Foods
If your lunch boxes include yogurt, juice boxes, or water, freeze them the night before. They will help to keep everything cold and still be thawed by lunchtime.
6. Proper Placement
If you are packing any dips or dressings into your child’s lunch, be sure to pack those in a separate small container and put them on top of a cold pack.
7. Wash Produce
Wash and dry all produce, even apples, thoroughly before you place them inside the lunch box. Moisture can breed germs, and you don’t want anyone getting sick.
8. Use A Thermos
Any hot foods that you are packing in your child’s lunch need to be packed into a thermos. You can find them in all different sizes, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding one to fit in your child’s lunchbox.
Preheat your thermos before packing your food into it. Preheat the thermos with boiling water for a few minutes, then empty it and add the hot food. This allows your food to stay hot instead of cooling in temperature to warm the thermos up.
9. Insulate
Pack both hot and cold lunches in an insulated lunch bag. An insulated bag will do a much better job of keeping your food warm or cold than a plain paper bag or a metal box.
10. Clean Up
After school, make sure to empty your child’s lunchbox and wash and dry everything thoroughly before packing lunch for the next day. Need more tips for safely packing hot and cold lunches, then check this out.
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This originally appeared on The Gracious Pantry.
