Use an Insulated Lunch Bag to Keep Meals Safe

09 Dec.,2024

 

Use an Insulated Lunch Bag to Keep Meals Safe

Posted by Nirav Shah, MBA, MPH, Public Affairs Specialist, FSIS in Health and Safety

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If lunch contains perishable food items, be sure to pack with at least two cold sources! Ice packs & frozen juice or water works great!

No matter your age, the end of summer is also a time of beginnings. This means a new school year, new episodes of your favorite TV show and the start of football season.

Students, sports fans and outdoor enthusiasts all have one thing in common: packed lunches. However, some people still pack perishable food in an old-fashioned brown paper bag instead of an insulated lunch box. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food is unsafe to be eaten if it&#;s kept in an old-fashioned brown paper bag longer than 2 hours. Insulated lunch boxes help maintain food at a safe temperature until lunchtime.

Why keep food cold? Foodborne illness can multiply rapidly at temperatures between 40°F and 140°F. This means that if you are tailgating or leaving in the morning for school or work, you&#;ll need a plan to keep your food cold. You&#;ll want to use at least two cold sources in an insulated bag to keep perishable foods in your lunch safe; ice or gel packs in your insulated bag or box work best.

Perishable foods, such as cold cut sandwiches and yogurt, can be left out at room temperature for no more than 2 hours before they become unsafe to eat. With an insulated lunch box and a chilled freezer gel pack, perishable food can stay cold and safe to eat until lunch. You can find re-usable cold sources at the store (right next to the lunch boxes) or make your own by filling a water bottle or plastic container with water and freezing it. Depending on how much food you are packing you may need several cold sources. Above all, choose a lunch box or tote that is easy to clean.

Packing a hot lunch? Use an insulated container to keep your food hot until lunchtime. Before you warm up your food, fill the container with boiling water and let it stand while you heat your food. Heat your food to at least 165°F, then empty the water out of the insulated container, pack your food and seal it tight. Keep the container closed until lunchtime so the food stays hot. If you are heating a cold entrée in your office kitchen be sure to heat it until it is 165°F, or hot and steaming.

When packing your insulated lunch bag, remember to add some hand wipes, so you can clean your hands before eating if there are no facilities nearby. When you return home and empty your bag or box, wipe the insides with hot soapy water and let it air dry so that it is ready for your next adventure.

For more information on packing safe lunches see: Keeping "Bag" Lunches Safe

Call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at (1-888-674-) Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, or or chat at AskKaren.gov.

Why Using Insulated Lunch Bags Is Better for Your Health

Food preparation and consumption are always risky, no matter where you eat or who prepares your meals. This even goes for yourself because if you don&#;t take the proper steps to keep the bacteria levels down when making the food or containing it, you could suffer a serious illness. If we are conscious of the potential pathogens that can enter our bodies, we can take extensive care in how we handle our food. We must ensure the food is safe before we ingest anything that may have foreign entities that can harm our bodies. This is where insulated lunch bags come into play and why using insulated lunch bags is better for your health. They can prevent you from any biological attacks that could potentially occur in the body.

Unsafe Temperatures

The leading issue behind carrying lunches to school and work are temperatures that can result in bacterial and viral infection. As your day goes on, the chances that your food has sat at room temperature rise if you don&#;t use an insulated lunch box. This is a huge problem because it opens a vector for disease to happen. Most food items are unsafe at room temperatures after two hours. Therefore, you must store your food in devices that can keep your lunch safe and free of these foodborne illnesses. Insulated lunch boxes keep your food from reaching room temperature, fending off harmful bacteria.

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Insulated Lunches

Luckily, there is an insulated lunch box with everything you need to keep your lunch at a reasonable temperature, so your food won&#;t spoil under unreasonable conditions. When you invest in an insulated lunch box, you can ensure your food is safe. By its patented design, the insulated lunch box works to keep your food at a regulated temperature well into lunchtime, preventing any foreign bacterial or viral pathogens from occurring in your food.

Foodborne Illnesses

When there are high levels of bacterium present, they can be harmful to the body. One way that these bacteria enter the body and bloodstream is through food. The second most common way is through something we drink. Also, you can catch a foodborne illness when it comes in contact with other surfaces, such as a countertop. All food holds the potential of becoming unsuitable for digestion.

Cooling Mediums

Two of the most regularly used methods of keeping your insulated lunch box cool are using ice or gel packs, which mimic ice when frozen. These mediums, with the insulation and reflective technology, will act as a barrier from outside elements. Having these mediums in place will take those insulated lunch bags to the next level by providing hours upon hours of cool temperatures. This keeps your foods at the right temperature, so you can snack on them throughout the day if you so desire.

Hot Lunches

When it comes to hot lunches, you need to warm your food to a safe temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit alongside the container that will store the food. With both warmed to the ideal temperature and sealed appropriately, your meal will stay warm well into noon. Because the temperature will remain above 140 degrees Fahrenheit from when you prepare the meal until you sit down to eat lunch, there is virtually no way that bacteria or viruses can invade your meal. Thanks to these high temperatures, you can eat your lunch without fear of getting ill.

Insulation Layers

What makes insulated lunch boxes so successful is how the manufacturers construct them. These boxes have an outer polyester shell that is rigid enough and yet has enough recoil that it can withstand more than a paper bag or any other lunch box on the market can. The middle layer consists mainly of foam insulation. This helps with the impact, but it mainly acts as a barrier between the food and the outside elements. That way, you can keep those temperatures the same. Then, there is the innermost layer, which works as a reflective layer. This keeps foods warm or cold by maintaining the temperature relative to the temperature it was at when you set up your lunch.

Budget Savings

If you buy wholesale, the overhead cost might seem alarming at first. Having a bulk supply means you have cut the costs back to only a fraction of what you would pay in stores. So even though it feels like you&#;re overspending, you pay less for wholesale lunch boxes than you would have spent in store for the same product.

Size and Versatility

Another refreshing aspect of buying wholesale lunch boxes is that you can try out multiple styles, as you will undoubtedly have many varieties as you stock up on the product. If you have a wholesale business, you will want more variety to keep your customer&#;s attention over time.

Protection

Since you have a polyester-clad bag with an insulated foam middle layer and zippers, you have a highly functional and durable bag. This means that you can carry a salad, a tuna sandwich, and even soup if that&#;s what you&#;re in the mood for, and it will maintain the appropriate temperature. Also, it will stay as intact as it was the moment you sealed it up and left your house. No matter what food you desire, an insulated lunch bag can keep it safe. Whatever the occasion calls for, you will find yourself carrying a lunch box with you whenever you&#;re on the go.

If you&#;re looking for wholesale insulated lunch bags with all the qualities listed above, you should check out Backpacks USA, as they will have all of your needs covered. If you want to buy in bulk to provide lunch boxes for a charity, school drive, or more, Backpacks USA is the retailer for you. Besides insulated lunch boxes, they provide everything for your backpack needs, whether large or small. Hopefully, this has painted a picture of why using insulated lunch bags is better for your health, as you will see the difference once you start using your own insulated lunch box.

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