Ladies Home Safety

I'm not a mother in any way, shape, or form, but the advice from Ladies Home Journal's latest issue on how to economically pack a child's lunch has raised some flags with me.  What LHJ suggests might save you a few pennies on the actual food, but could cost you in doctor bills.  This also applies to anyone who brown bags and does not have access to proper refrigeration.

First, a Thermos should never be used for anything other than liquids that were heated or chilled to a safe temperature and are going to be consumed within 2-4 hours.  The liquid stays in contact with the sides of the container at all times, allowing the plastic to maintain the temperature.  LHJ writes about sending your child off to school with chicken fingers in a Thermos.  The irregular shapes of the chicken fingers make it impossible for full contact with the sides of the container.  The air between the chicken pieces also stays at a cooler temperature.   Combine this with the insulating properties of the average elementary school locker, and you've got a recipe for lukewarm poultry and a potential disaster.  Sure, the bulk buy bag of processed chicken may be cheaper than a school lunch or certain brown bag sandwiches, but this is not the way to save.

Another idea that needs to be blasted from the drawing board is the use of frozen bread as an ice pack.  LHJ says that making a sandwich on frozen whole wheat instead of room temperature bread will keep the entire meal cold enough until the bread defrosts around lunch time.  First off, frozen bread takes maybe 15 minutes to defrost, a far cry from the lunch bell.  Bulk buying bread on sale and freezing it is a good way to save if you have the freezer space and go through 2 or more loaves a week.  But trying to use two paltry pieces of bread to keep a lunch bag at a safe temperature is impossible.  Before your child starts his or her first class, that bread's defrosted and sending come as you are invites to any germ in range.

Always play it safe when it comes to food and I would be happy to answer any food safety related questions!