Back to school: Students encouraged to think 'food safety'

CANADA - The Food Safety Information Society is urging students returning to classes this fall to think food safety when preparing school lunches, writes Bruce Cochrane.
calendar icon 4 September 2007
clock icon 3 minute read

Students in Saskatchewan started returning to classes last week and students in Manitoba are heading back this week.

Food Safety Information Society information officer Pat Inglis says, when preparing lunches, it's important to keep bacteria at bay.

Pat Inglis-Food Safety Information Society

Cooked meat, poultry, fish, eggs and some cheeses are perishable and they have to be kept cold and that left over pizza as well if you decide to take a slice of that.

Next, when you start to prepare your lunch, be sure that your hands are clean.

Wash them well in warm soapy water and also your working surface, the cutting board, any utensils or counter top and the packaging that you're going to be putting your lunch into.

Next you want to be sure that the cold foods are kept really cold and that would be at a temperature of four degrees Celsius or below and that is overnight, if you're going to making your lunch a day ahead, or while you're transporting the lunch to school.

So you may need to use an ice pack or frozen juice box in order to keep that food really cold until you're ready to eat it.

If it's hot food it should be in a pre-heated insulated bottle and it should be kept piping hot until you're ready to use it.

Lastly do not re-use leftovers.

If the lunch has gone to school probably any leftovers should be left at school in the garbage can, not brought home for snacks or to be put into lunch the next day and also do not re-use food packing because they, if they did have any bacteria on them, could contaminate the food.


The Food Safety Information Society can be reached at foodsafetyline.org or at 1-800-892-8333.

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