MI Department of Agriculture Urges Parents To Remember Food Safety When Packing School Lunches
Kalamazoo MI. – It’s “back to school” time and the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) is urging parents to follow these basic food safety guidelines when packing their child’s lunch:
How to make sure your lunch is safe:
- Put something cold in the lunch box. A fun trick is to freeze a juice box overnight and put it right next to a sandwich. This ensures the sandwich won’t get too warm and your child still has a cold drink at lunchtime! If you don’t want to take a juice box, a small, plastic refrigerator container filled with water and put into the freezer the night before will work too.
- Freeze your sandwiches. This works better with coarse-textured breads that won't get soggy when they thaw. The sandwich will be thawed by the time you eat lunch, and it keeps everything else in the lunch box cold. (If your child likes lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, pack those separately. They don’t freeze well, and your child may not like the taste when it thaws.)
- Use a thermos to keep milk or juice cold until lunchtime. Some juices don’t even need to be refrigerated.
- Remind your child to keep his/her lunch in the coolest place possible. If the school has a refrigerator, put the lunch in there.
- Always keep it clean. Show children how to wash their hands with warm, soapy water before they eat.
For more information about the nutrition program at MSU Extension in Kalamazoo call 384-8063 or e-mail to byrdle@msu.edu or visit our web site at www.kalcounty.com/msue, or visit www.michigan.gov/foodsafety or www.foodsafety.gov, or call the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Information Line at 888-SAFE-FOOD.
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MSU Extension is an Affirmative-Action Equal-Opportunity Institution. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, or family status.
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