Pleased to post this from Vermont Department of Health!
Be sure to pack homemade school lunches safely this year! Perishable lunches do the body no good if they aren’t insulated properly. Here are some tips:
1. Use an insulated lunch bag. Avoid brown paper bags. Purchase an insulated bag and add a frozen gel pack and a frozen juice box or bottle of water to keep items at 40 F or below.
2. Choose non-refrigerated items. Include options that don’t require refrigeration in your child’s lunch, like whole fruits, raw and uncut vegetables, hard cheeses, unopened shelf stable meats and fish cans and pouches, chips, bread, crackers, peanut butter and jelly.
3. Keep it hot. If soup, chili or stew is on the menu, use an insulated container to keep food heated. Fill the container with boiling water, let it stand for a few minutes, empty it, and then pour in the hot liquid meal before packing it for school. Keep the insulated container closed until lunchtime to keep items at 140 F or above.
For more info visit https://www.fsis.usda.gov/
Original source can be found here.
