Ideas for ensuring safe school lunchboxes

The following is great advice from the Food Safety Information Council to ensure that the school lunches that are about to once again become part of our lives meet food safety requirements.

6 tips for parents about how to prepare a safe lunchbox for children:

1. When buying lunchboxes, choose those that have room for a frozen water bottle or freezer block and are easy to clean and dry.
2. Always wash and dry your hands thoroughly before preparing food, and wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly.
3. Make sure ready-to-eat lunchbox foods are always kept separated from raw foods in the refrigerator, particularly raw meats, chicken, eggs, and seafood.
4. Keep the lunch cool in the fridge until you are ready to leave home, then put an ice brick or frozen drink in it to keep it cold until lunchtime.
5. During hot weather you may want to consider providing safer lunchbox alternatives that can be safely stored at room temperature, such as hard or processed cheese, uncut vegetables or tuna in a can.
6. Discard any higher risk foods such as sushi, salads, meat, cut fruits, poultry, rice or eggs if your child brings them home uneaten.

For more helpful and easy food safety information go to the Food Safety information Council website at  www.foodsafety.asn.au