sending "hot" lunch to school and food safety

[Anonymous]

We use stainless steel insulated containers from KleanCanteen, pre-heated with boiling water. Food goes from the microwave to the container steaming hot. My kids report the food is still steaming when they open at lunch. Soups have been known to be too hot to eat without cooling down first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t food safer in a Thermos compared to cold cut meat on a sandwich sitting in room temperature?

It really has to be. I survived years of warm mayo sandwiches. Luke warm mac n cheese is fine. Plus the new thermos containers really trap in heat.

Mayo is slightly acidic. It's less dangerous than you think. Same goes for any tomato-based sauces.

[Anonymous]

How is lukewarm mac n cheese more dangerous than a sandwich with deli meat? Given all the listeria outbreaks, I'd be more leery of a turkey sandwich than a warm lunch.

[Anonymous]

well i guess my kids are screwed because we did that their entire education. I should probably let them know that might get sick someday.

[Anonymous]

School lunches are hot. Join the missing middle.

[Anonymous]

How my kid survived to be 20 eating warm food from her thermos all those years, I have no idea.

Eye roll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really fine. That’s sort of the whole point of a Thermos. Don’t overthink it.

If you put it in hot in a good container, it will be hot at lunch time.

For extra insurance, fill the container with hot water first.

From the US Department of Agriculture:

"For hot foods, use an insulated container to keep food like soup, chili, and stew hot. Fill the container with boiling water, let stand for a few minutes, empty, and then pour in the piping hot food. Keep the insulated container closed until lunchtime to keep the food hot — 140 F or above."

https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/07/17/dont-flunk-food-safety-school-year

[Anonymous]

What? In the winter I send soup at 7am. Its still hot enough to burn at 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do a test. Make a dish you would serve, put it in the thermos, and check the temp at 1. You can start but warming the thermos and by putting in the food as hot as possible. If it were me, I’d do this a few times.

Problem might be that it warms other foods in the lunch. Or it might be fine.

Do you really not know how a thermos works?

[Anonymous]

As others have said, my son used to complain the food was too hot. I am surprised at how well thermoses work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any good thermos recommendations - especially ones that are easy to eat out of and big enough for an older kid? Thanks!

Thermos Funtainer food jar. There are two sizes.

https://www.amazon.com/THERMOS-FUNTAINER-Ounce-Stainless-Steel/dp/B08NCPJSTX/ref=sr_1_10?crid=3CB5YTQ16FOWQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sSHx_f2irnYW5ikQDiI5D5aZ2c1FMM7O9sSaAI3fMO64uLBdtuy_AcI0QEPZQNDcUG53ph6cihZdP68Z-cHMHoQND2vAZRAZOGKRfJGM7eh6m9mdrNXWIlgy0oiSBed4nMXPvik2V7FtNxx6UwRzGgbrHNcX8-ItZXJLuaRCSKFTgZamPM6k9ybiU5-Ra8-JIgTV_abyYmsU8udi8KueLo2oXMZjThKZU6LoiNQCkVfhbC3BdmIGF7GAe_gmv6xCUo428EM1cC5wI3dMwZN7GnFzDtNFfxBamwxO3neCF-A.jafMmJ58OKgHt15Rn9OrIhb4dmgyrM5N5VjEqTAyB2U&dib_tag=se&keywords=thermos+for+hot+food&qid=1724164466&sprefix=thermo%2Caps%2C86&sr=8-10

Or anything thermos brand.

[Anonymous]

I've done this quite a bit, including pasta with meat sauce, meatballs in tomato sauce, mac and cheese.

Heat the food until it's steaming or boiling. At the same time, fill the thermos with boiling water, screw the lid on, and let it sit 5+ minutes. Then empty the thermos and immediately pack the food in. Try to get it really full - dead air inside the thermos will let the food cool down faster.

With that method, my kids report that when they open the thermos at lunchtime, the food is still steaming. Nobody has ever gotten sick from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It definitely violates food safety rules, so I don’t risk it. All the people who say they’ve never had a problem don’t really know if those times they have thrown up or had diarrhea that they blamed on a stomach bug were actually from like warm Mac and cheese.

Or maybe, just maybe it was a virus that had nothing to do with food safety.

Frankly, millions or billions of people use thermoses for hot and cold lunches every day and they’re not getting sick. It’s perfectly safe it’s nothing to worry about you. Just need to preheat or pre-cool your thermos and it’ll be hot by the time you get to lunch.

USDA says hot food in an insulated container is fine. Thermos advertises that hot food stays hot for 8 hours in the kids' food jar version. If it was dangerous for people to use Thermoses for what they are designed for and advertised to do (i.e., keeping food warm for a few hours) then Thermos would have been sued into oblivion by now.

https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2023/07/24/make-food-safety-honor-roll-school-year

https://thermos.com/collections/food-jars/products/12oz-icon-kids-food-jar

[Anonymous]

I don't send meat in a thermos - I will send leftover pasta, cheese & bean enchiladas, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do a test. Make a dish you would serve, put it in the thermos, and check the temp at 1. You can start but warming the thermos and by putting in the food as hot as possible. If it were me, I’d do this a few times.

Problem might be that it warms other foods in the lunch. Or it might be fine.

Girl, I've sent a thermos full of soup in the same lunch bag as a small ice pack and a sandwich and my said the sandwich stayed cold and the soup stayed hot.