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Brown Bagging It Could Be Making Your Kid Sick: Only 1% of Bagged Lunches Are Safe
A new study found only 1% of lunches brought from home are safe and could cause food poisoning.
This school year don’t be the reason your kids are getting sick. A new study according to the Journal of Pediatrics claims that only 1% of lunches brought from home are kept at a safe temperature in school.
By lunchtime, your kids’ food is probably room temperature and is at risk of contamination. Cold lunches should be kept at less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and warm food at over 140 degrees Fahrenheit. When not kept at a safe temperature, it could cause vomiting and diarrhea, which might have a kid going home “sick” – parents think it’s just a virus when it really could be food poisoning.
I caught a clip this morning on the Today Show with tips to pack a safer lunch this school year:
- Be sure to pack cold foods in ice and use a lunch box with built in cooler. See if your school will put lunches in a refrigerator or at least a classroom cooler.
- Fruit & veggies are safe at room temperature before being peeled or cut. Safe suggestions to pack in their sacks include snap peas, whole apples, dried fruit, nuts (if allowed at school), cherry tomatoes, and even packaged milk with dry cereal or pre-packaged unopened hard cheeses.
My boys normally buy their lunch at school but this year my youngest son starts full-day kindergarten and will be taking a lunch bag every day because of his food allergies. Do you pack your kid’s lunch? What types of foods do you send with them to school?
Instead of a brown bag, try one of our top picks for kids’ lunchboxes for back-to-school!
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17 Comments
Bridget commented on Aug 08 11 at 10:19 pmI do pack lunches because last year my oldest came home and said “Mama, please don’t make me eat that junk at school.” Who can resist that? But I do use ice packs and an insulated bag.
Sophistishe.com commented on Aug 08 11 at 10:36 pmWhen I carried a lunch, it was always warm by lunch time. My mom never put ice or packs in my lunch box/bag. I have no idea why…
Kate commented on Aug 08 11 at 11:34 pmHow did we ever survive?
Libby commented on Aug 09 11 at 12:58 amOverworry. It’s apparently packed in lunches too. Geesh.
Nicole commented on Aug 09 11 at 1:26 amThank goodness we now know why all those millions of kids who have been taking their lunches to school for the past 100 years got sick and died! The horror is over!
Jenn commented on Aug 09 11 at 9:00 amThese are good tips and ones that we would all do well to heed. Using an icepack or a thermos are simple, easy-to-do, things we can do to help our kids. Why not do it? Regardless of whether or not my mom did it for me?
Bunnytwenty commented on Aug 09 11 at 9:15 amThis is stupid. My mom packed my lunch every day of my public school career, K-12, and I never got sick from it (and it often included things like cheese or cold cuts, sometimes even tuna fish). I mean, sure, use an icepack, it’s a good idea, but this is one of the dumbest news stories ever.
bob commented on Aug 09 11 at 10:11 amI suppose my normal childhood will sound to my padded grandchildren like the far-fetched plot of a Mission Impossible film, no embellishment necessary.
Mary commented on Aug 09 11 at 11:11 amYeah, I never got sick off of school lunches either, even when my lunch block fell pretty late in the day. This is yet another example of parental overworry. Unless you’re packing sashimi for lunch, you’re probably fine.
Sidebar: did anyone else have wacky school lunch schedules growing up? My school attempted to schedule too many different lunches in order to accommodate the entire school in our small-ish cafeteria. There was one year where my class ate lunch at 10:20am every day…outrageous! No wonder we were cranky and badly behaved at the end of the school day.
Kate commented on Aug 09 11 at 1:07 pm@Mary- In elementary school, our lunch time was 11am. And for no good reason either, as we all sat in our desks in our classroom– no staggering of lunch times to fit everyone in the cafeteria or anything like that.
daria commented on Aug 09 11 at 2:09 pmCOULD cause food poisoning. also, kids get sick. their immunities strengthen. as long as the food itself isn’t tainted, no biggie.
Sarah commented on Aug 09 11 at 10:17 pmNow how about a story on how sick the lunches schools create and sell make kids sick (and obese and diabetic and give them a completely inaccurate view of what they are supposed to eat and…)? WAY more than 1% are impacted by that each school day.
Stephanie Precourt commented on Aug 09 11 at 11:09 pmI had no idea this would turn into a school lunch vs bagged lunch bashing! I totally think there’s no harm in taking a little precaution in preparing your kid’s lunch the safest way you can. So throw in an ice pack or be more mindful of WHAT you pack and HOW. What’s the big deal with that? In no way did I intend that you should buy lunch at school INSTEAD!!
Steph
laura commented on Aug 12 11 at 10:15 ami bought fit & fresh storage containers to send my kids’ lunches. each container comes with a cooler. one of my kids can put his lunch in a refrigerator too. my to-be kindergartner has the option of buying school lunch, and although i put some money on his card for the year, i will pick the days that he has school lunch. most of the options seem less than desirable.
laura commented on Aug 12 11 at 10:24 amp.s. your parents probably didn’t put you in any kind of safety seat or make you wear a seat belt in the car…would YOU do that? there is NO harm in taking precautions knowing what we know. jeesh!
Tracy commented on Aug 12 11 at 6:42 pmI came up with the idea to use those fruit pouches for toddlers and the applesauce pouches for big kids and I freeze them and put them in their lunches. The pouches keep the rest of the food cold but are thawed by lunchtime to eat, and also they get an extra fruit serving! I like the Materne brand applesauces; I emailed them to ensure the pouches were freezable and they assured me they were indeed!
Nicole commented on Sep 02 11 at 1:25 pmI think we need to remember that the food we ate as kids, isn’t the same crap our kids are eating. @Laura, you’re right, taking precautions with a 1.50 ice pack isn’t going to break the bank.
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