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Avoid The Lunch BagBugs!
by Tracy Parker, R.D.
eDiets Staff Writer
While most of us are most concerned about food safety when we're dining out, a food source that's much closer to home can actually bring a greater risk of contracting a food-borne illness -- the brown bag lunch.
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Food that starts off at home can be kept safe if handled, cooked and stored in the appropriate manner. Unfortunately, the journey of a packed lunch, from the school bus, car trip or subway ride to school to its final destination in a desk drawer or locker, can often make it difficult, keeping that mid-day meal sitting at room temperature for four to six hours. This temperature is the bacteria danger zone, where food can become a carrier for food-borne illness.
Between 1990 and 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 292 instances of food poisoning affecting about 16,000 children. Although most were related to school-bought lunches, some involved packed lunches. So, if you or your children are toting lunch to school or work, you'll want to get the facts straight so you can prevent ever having to experience a food-borne illness.
Protecting Against Food-Borne Illnesses
The good news is that proper cooking, handling and storage of food, which destroys bacteria, can prevent most cases of food-borne illness. So with September marked as National Food Safety Education Month, it's a good time to get educated on how to handle and prepare food properly at home.
To help prevent food-borne illness from getting into your bagged lunches, the Food Safety Inspection Service of the USDA has some safe-handling recommendations -- just in time for back-to-school season! (We've also included tips for getting the kids involved in keeping their lunches safe.)
What's A Food-Borne Illness?
When certain harmful bacteria enter the food supply, they (or the toxins they produce) can cause food-borne illnesses. Often, these diseases present flu-like symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever, so many people do not recognize the symptoms as being an illness caused by bacteria in the food they have eaten (perhaps blaming it on a stomach virus). Some people can become ill after ingesting only a few harmful bacteria while others remain symptom free after ingesting thousands.
For most healthy people, food-borne illnesses are neither long lasting nor life threatening. However, they can be severe in the very young, the very old, and people with certain diseases and conditions. It is estimated that between 24 and 81 million cases of food-borne diarrhea disease occur each year in the United States.
What Foods Cause Food-Borne Illnesses?
The bacteria that cause food-borne illness can grow in just about any food if it's handled improperly, but bacteria are particularly fond of:
- Foods rich in protein, such as raw or undercooked meat, poultry, fish, eggs and seafood.
- Foods with high-moisture content (bacteria require moisture to thrive and reproduce). Examples include starchy, egg-rich and cream-based products, such as potato or pasta salads, cream-based soups, and custard or cream pies.
However, food-borne illnesses can result from ingesting any food. Recently, in fact, pre-packaged, diced Roma tomatoes were the culprits of a Salmonella outbreak at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Since you can't see, taste or smell bacteria, the only way that you can be sure food is safe is to follow smart food hygiene at all times. Proper cooking, handling and storage of food, which destroys bacteria, can prevent most cases of food-borne illness.
How To Keep Your School Lunches Safe
Safe lunches begin at the store. Perishable foods need to be kept cold or frozen at the supermarket and after reaching home. Between home and school, lunches can be made secure by keeping all utensils and equipment clean while preparing and eating the food. Choosing foods that remain safe at room temperature or keeping cold foods cold and hot foods hot is essential.
1. Keep Things Clean
This goes not only for the food, but the food preparation surfaces, hands and utensils. Cross-contamination is a contributing factor in many food-borne disease outbreaks. It is the transfer of harmful bacteria to foods from other foods, cutting boards, utensils, etc., when they are not handled properly.
Simple solutions, such as washing hands before eating or preparing foods, making sure all containers, cutting boards and utensils are thoroughly cleaned after each use, and washing fruits and vegetables before packing them in a lunch bag, go a long way toward keeping home-packed lunches out of harm's way.
Kids Tips:
- Tell little ones that the most important thing they can do to keep from getting sick is to wash their hands. Get them to help prepare their packed lunch and understand the importance of washing their hands before and after handling different foods.
- Remind them of the things that do not belong on food-preparation counters -- backpacks, smelly shoes or pets. This will help them keep lunch areas at school clean.
2. Hit The Right Temperature
Harmful bacteria multiply rapidly in the danger zone (temperature between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit). So, perishable foods should not be left out at room temperature for more than two hours.
Keeping Cold Foods Cold
- Prepare cold foods the night before and store in the fridge to help perishables stay cooler, longer. This saves time and it's a safe food practice. Freezing sandwiches helps them to stay cold, too. For best quality, do not freeze sandwiches containing mayonnaise, lettuce or tomatoes -- add these later to prevent soggy sandwiches. Mayonnaise can be used in lunch box foods, as long as it is commercially prepared. These preparations use pasteurized eggs, while homemade versions call for raw eggs. The storage of the sandwich is the important factor (see below).
- Insulated, soft-sided lunch boxes are best for keeping food cold, but they still require a frozen gel pack. If you use brown paper bags, create layers by double bagging to help insulate the food. Include a frozen individual juice box (which will thaw by lunch time) or reusable freezer gel pack to keep the food cold.
- Keep lunch bags out of direct sunlight and away from heat.
- Pack just the amount of perishable food that can be eaten at lunch. This way, the storage or safety of leftovers won't be an issue.
Kids Tips:
- Let them help prepare their lunches so they understand which foods need to go back in the school refrigerator (if they have use).
- Make sure kids put cold packs in their lunchboxes. Inform them that cold packs act as a refrigerator for only a short time.
Some packed lunch favorites that are safe to keep at room temperature are: Whole fresh fruits and vegetables (if sliced, should be refrigerated), dried fruit, cereal bars, shelf-stable hard cheese, canned meat and fish, packaged puddings and canned fruit, breads, trail mix, cereal, crackers and cookies and that classic, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Round out these meal makers with items available at the cafeteria, such as milk and yogurt.
Keeping Hot Foods Hot
As the weather starts to cool down, hot soups and stews are ideal lunch bag additions, but be sure they stay hot. Keeping hot foods from boiling in a pre-heated insulated container like a Thermos works well, as long as it is kept closed until lunch.
3. Discard The Leftovers
Don't hang on to leftover foods. This means packaging material, such as paper or plastic wraps and aluminum foil, too, since cross-contamination can result from reusing them. Keep the lunch box clean by washing it daily with hot water and soap.
Kids Tips:
- If any food is not eaten at lunch, tell kids to throw it away -- and not to give it to someone else.
- Tell children, if it looks or smells bad, do not taste it. When it doubt, throw it out.
Lunchtime is a great time to provide your child with a nutritious mid-day meal and by following these guidelines you can help ensure your child consumes a safe and nutritious homemade pack lunch. Bon appetit!
The eDiets weight loss program will always help you make the smartest choices. Visit eDiets and fill out a free diet profile.
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