Even though the United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world, there are still millions of cases of foodborne illness each year. Let’s talk cold cuts. Maybe they should be called just “cuts.” At any rate there are new reports that despite parents’ best intentions, many school lunches packed at home may reach unsafe temperatures by the time a child eats, and that’s true even when lunches are packed in an insulated container with ice packs.
Foodborne pathogens may actually be the cause. When kept at improper temperatures, bacteria can multiply rapidly, which makes foodborne illness more likely. And, the study authors pointed out that food-borne illness is a particular risk for youngsters under the age of 5 years.
A new study of preschoolers’ lunches found that more than 90% of the food sent from home was at an unsafe temperature long before children started eating.
Fawaz Almansour, a doctoral candidate in the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Texas at Austin states:
“The main finding of our study is that more than 90% of perishable items were at an unacceptable temperature according to USDA guidelines an hour and a half before lunch. This was an eye opener. As a parent, when my child comes home with a stomachache or vomiting, I usually think it’s a virus. I don’t think the food I serve is the problem.”
The researchers tested the temperature of individual perishable items from 705 lunches. They tested the foods 1.5 hours before the kids’ scheduled lunch time because children are often allowed to start snacking on their food prior to lunch.
About 39% of the lunches had no ice packs, while 45% had just one ice pack.
More than 88% of the grubables were at room temperature, according to the study. Just 1.6% of perishable items were kept in the safe temperature zone recommended by the USDA. The USDA recommends that cold food be kept at less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and that no food should be at room temperature for more than two hours.
Dr. Michael Green, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh adds:
“The vast majority of lunches were clearly out of a safe range, but it’s hard to know what the true biological impact of that is. We don’t truly know how often this results in a foodborne illness. This paper raises a lot of questions, but isn’t able to provide a lot of solutions.”
Almansour said that kids’ nutrition might suffer if parents avoided perishable foods. One possible solution might be to put the lunch in a paper bag, and transport it to the day care center in an insulated cooler, but remove the paper bag from the container and place it in the refrigerator once at the day care.
Nutrition for kids is based on the same principles as nutrition for adults. Everyone needs the same types of nutrients: vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, protein, fat. What’s different about nutrition for kids, however, is the amount of specific nutrients needed at different ages.
According to the Mayo Clinic:
“If your child isn’t hungry, don’t force a meal or snack. Likewise, don’t bribe or force your child to eat certain foods or clean his or her plate. This might only ignite or reinforce a power struggle over food. In addition, your child might come to associate mealtime with anxiety and frustration. Serve small portions to avoid overwhelming your child and give him or her the opportunity to independently ask for more.”
Written by Sy Kraft