Keeping Your Child's School Lunch Safe

When you were growing up, you probably used one of those metal lunch boxes that sat in your classroom for hours before the lunch bell rang.

Today, we know that leaving perishable food at room temperature is downright dangerous. In fact, the CDC states that food should not be kept at room temperature for longer than 2 hours - including the time used during preparation.

Temperature control

When it comes to packing a safe school lunch and keeping it safe until lunchtime, temperature control is key. Pathogens like to grow in the temperature "danger zone" between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F.

Here are some tips that can reduce the risk that your child will consume a disease-causing dose of foodborne pathogens at lunch:

• Use an insulated lunch box or bag. Many of these insulated boxes contain a pouch for an ice pack.



• At least once a week, wipe the interior of the lunch box with a paper towel dampened with a weak solution of bleach and water (1 teaspoon of bleach per gallon of water).



• Include an ice pack in the lunch bag. Or freeze a juice box and use it as an ice pack. (It should be defrosted by lunchtime.)



• Make sandwiches from cold ingredients. This means keeping your loaves of bread in the freezer and refrigerating your cans of tuna before making tuna sandwiches. If a germ finds its way onto your child's sandwich, it will have a harder time multiplying if the food is already cold.



• Scrub all fruit and vegetables with a vegetable brush under running water. This rule applies to bananas and other fruits that have an inedible peel, and to bagged "pre-washed" vegetables such as baby carrots. After scrubbing, wrap the fruit or vegetables in plastic or a paper towel before placing in the lunch box.



• Wrap loose chips, cookies and crackers in plastic or foil.



• Instruct your child to wash his or her hands with warm water and soap before lunch and to refrain from touching doorknobs, friends' hands, shoelaces, chewing gum wads under the desk and other potentially contaminated surfaces before sitting down to eat.



• Give your child pasteurized juice. Many foodborne illness outbreaks have been traced to unpasteurized juices and apple cider.



• Instruct your child to throw out any leftover food.



• Admonish your child from sharing food with other children.



• Be extra careful to follow food-safety guidelines if your child is taking an antibiotic. By killing normal intestinal bacteria, antibiotics reduce the body's ability to ward off foodborne pathogens. It takes about two weeks after finishing the antibiotic prescription for the natural intestinal flora to build back up to normal levels.

Related Articles Is Your Child Ready for School? Top 10 Signs of a Good Kindergarten Classroom Is Your Child Adequately Immunized to Begin School? Chickenpox Vaccine: Should Your Child Get It? Treating Head Lice Learning Disabilities in the School-Aged Child Finding a Good After-School Program Sending Kids to School With Meds

External Source Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.

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