School lunch safety

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else just pack room temp food for their child? I send things like cooked pasta or fried rice... Food safety rules say nothing over 3 hours, but when we go to HMart those prepped fried rice and other rice meals are just sitting out at room temp.

Should I be putting in lots of ice packs to keep rice and pasta cooler? I tried a thermos, but it seems less safe because it doesn't keep rice boiling hot. Keeping for at 80-100 seems worse bacteria wise than keeping food at room temp.

[Anonymous]

^ I forgot to mention that with the thermos I do the boiling water trick but it still doesn't keep food hot enough unless its soup.

[Anonymous]

My thermos keeps food hot for about six hours. I put boiling water in and let it sit for 10 minutes. The food stays hot until lunchtime.

If you’re concerned about bacteria, then find a different service that yours might be faulty or pack it and ice so it’s cold.

I’ve never seen pasta or rice chocolate room temperature at H Mart. It’s usually in the refrigerated section.

[Anonymous]

We survived the 80s without insulate lunch bags or ice packs. I brought my lunch in a paper bag every day. Your kid will be fine.

I also bring my lunch to work every day. it is always some sort of leftover/prepped meal. I leave home at 7am and do not refrigerate it. Eat sometime after noon and I am still alive to tell.

[Anonymous]

OMG there will be an epidemic of kids dying from room temp pasta!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My thermos keeps food hot for about six hours. I put boiling water in and let it sit for 10 minutes. The food stays hot until lunchtime.

If you’re concerned about bacteria, then find a different Thermos. Yours might be faulty or pack it and ice so it’s cold.

I’ve never seen pasta or rice chocolate room temperature at H Mart. It’s usually in the refrigerated section.

Fixed typos.

[Anonymous]

Most people don't worry about the food being at the perfect temperature. If the hot foods cools off somewhat during the day, it will be fine. Nothing bad will happen.

[Anonymous]

It's fine.

[Anonymous]

I make either sandwiches or lunch to be heat up the day before. I don’t use ice pack since I don’t pack meat nor cheese for sandwiches from refrigerator, but for pasta I microwave then add into food jar (zojirushi brand), and it keeps food warm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make either sandwiches or lunch to be heat up the day before. I don’t use ice pack since I don’t pack meat nor cheese for sandwiches from refrigerator, but for pasta I microwave then add into food jar (zojirushi brand), and it keeps food warm.

I was considering packing Mac and cheese in a thermos. Does it get mushy? Do you undercook it to compensate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ I forgot to mention that with the thermos I do the boiling water trick but it still doesn't keep food hot enough unless its soup.

Which thermos do you use? They vary a lot in performance. Generally, heat is lost mostly from the contact of the food to the lid, so the bigger the surface area, the faster the heat loss. Some of the kid options are pretty poor. Simple modern makes an inexpensive and dishwasher safe container that keeps food hot and has a handle to make it easier to open. It way outperforms the hydroflask jar in terms of heat retention.

https://a.co/d/bYHGrGk

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make either sandwiches or lunch to be heat up the day before. I don’t use ice pack since I don’t pack meat nor cheese for sandwiches from refrigerator, but for pasta I microwave then add into food jar (zojirushi brand), and it keeps food warm.

I was considering packing Mac and cheese in a thermos. Does it get mushy? Do you undercook it to compensate?

I use 2 rice cookers to separately cook pasta & vegan meat balls in sauce, so it’s like well done. I heard certain zojirushi food jars can “cook” rice or even eggs using hot water tricks but I’ve never tried.

[Anonymous]

I take a ham and turkey sandwich (out of the fridge) for lunch several times a week. It sits at room temperature for about five hours before I eat it. Nothing has happened to me yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We survived the 80s without insulate lunch bags or ice packs. I brought my lunch in a paper bag every day. Your kid will be fine.

I also bring my lunch to work every day. it is always some sort of leftover/prepped meal. I leave home at 7am and do not refrigerate it. Eat sometime after noon and I am still alive to tell.

This. I put an ice pack in my chrildren’s lunch, but it doesn’t keep it refrigerated temp. Just slightly colder than room temp. I put it in because it makes the food taste fresher, not because I’m worried about spoiling over the course of a few hours. I took a deli meant sandwich nearly every day to school in a paper bag. I lived. Sometimes I pack my kids leftovers in a Thermos (gasp, even rice). I put boiling water in first, then heat the food and put it in. I’m not temp checking anything though. I have no idea if it reaches 160. Per my kids it’s warm at lunch but not hot. It’s fine. They have never been sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else just pack room temp food for their child? I send things like cooked pasta or fried rice... Food safety rules say nothing over 3 hours, but when we go to HMart those prepped fried rice and other rice meals are just sitting out at room temp.

Should I be putting in lots of ice packs to keep rice and pasta cooler? I tried a thermos, but it seems less safe because it doesn't keep rice boiling hot. Keeping for at 80-100 seems worse bacteria wise than keeping food at room temp.

Why does rice need to be kept boiling hot?