University of Wisconsin - Extension

September is National Food Safety Education Month, which is especially significant since it also marks the beginning of another school year when millions of students will pack and carry homemade lunches.

"By following some simple food safety rules, students can avoid getting sick from a lunch that was not properly handled," cautions Diane Van, Acting Manager of USDA's nationwide, toll-free Meat and Poultry Hotline. "Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold and don't leave any perishable foods at room temperature for more than two hours. These tips are part of a major public and private food safety education program, 'Fight BAC!¿', to help reduce the incidence of foodborne illness."

Van advises that to save time, school lunches can be safely made ahead of time, for example, the night before, and kept cold either in the refrigerator or the freezer.

To help consumers safely navigate the first few weeks back at school, Barbara Ingham, University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension food science specialist, has these recommendations for Packing a Safe Lunch 101:

-- Always keep it clean. Make sure your hands, food preparation surfaces and utensils are clean. Use hot, soapy water to effectively get rid of bacteria. Teach your children to wash their hands before they eat. Also wash fruits and vegetables before packing them in your child's lunch. And keep family pets away from the kitchen counter.

-- Be sure to keep hot foods such as soup, chili or stew hot by using an insulated bottle. Fill the bottle with boiling water and let it stand for a few minutes. Empty the bottle and then fill it with piping hot food. Keep the bottle closed until lunchtime.

-- Cold foods should stay cold, so invest in a freezer gel pack (available in supermarkets and kitchen supply stores) and an insulated lunch box. Freezer gel packs will keep foods cold until lunchtime, but are not recommended for all-day storage. Any perishable food (i.e., meat, poultry or egg sandwiches) not eaten at lunch should be discarded.

-- If your child chooses a brown paper bag to carry lunch, it's especially important to include a cold source. A freezer gel pack or a frozen sandwich works well. Because brown paper bags tend to become soggy or leak as cold foods thaw, be sure to use an extra paper bag to create a double layer. Double bagging will also help insulate the food better.

-- Tell your child to use the refrigerator at school, if one is available. If not, make sure they keep their lunch out of direct sunlight and away from radiators, baseboards and other heat sources found in the classroom.

-- Every parent should have a supply of shelf-stable foods for easy packing. These include fresh fruits and vegetables, crackers, peanut butter sandwiches, packaged pudding and canned fruits or meats.

-- Freeze single-sized juice packs overnight and place the frozen drink in your child's lunch. The juice will thaw by lunchtime, but it will still be cold. The frozen drink will also keep the rest of the lunch cold.

-- If you make sandwiches the night before, keep them in the refrigerator until packing up to go in the morning.

Just as important as safely preparing and storing a school lunch, is to know when to throw something out.

"It comes down to two words: 'No leftovers!' If you don't finish your sandwich at lunch, throw it out. Don't try to save it by taking it back home. The freezer gel won't hold all afternoon, not even in an insulated lunch box," Diane Van says.

For more information on packing safe lunches for school (and work) contact your county UW-Extension office or call the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Meat and Poultry Hotline at 800-535-4555 (toll-free nationwide); or 800-256-7072 (TDD/TTY). The Hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Time, year-round. Also, a selection of timely food safety recordings is available 24 hours a day, every day, by using a touch-tone phone and the user-friendly menu.

Helpful food safety information is also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.fsis.usda.gov. Just click on the icons to access a wealth of food safety and handling subjects that can be downloaded.