As if there weren't enough to worry about in regards to kid nutrition and health, there was a study published by the journal Pediatrics, mentioned in the LA Times, that reports that most children's sack lunches are not kept at proper temperatures.
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The researchers measured the holding temps of 705 lunches that contained perishable items of 3- to 5-year-olds an hour before they were served. They found that 97.4 percent of meats, 99 percent of dairy items and 95.8 percent of vegetables were not at what they called “an acceptable temperature.”
Suggestions included putting ice packs in well-insulated lunch bags to inhibit bacteria growth and not leaving food out for more than two hours (one hour if the outside temperature is 90 degrees or hotter). The LA Times article points out that “even though many people grew up eating unrefrigerated lunches stored in paper bags with no cold packs, that shouldn't mean today's kids are safe.”
If this study confirms anything, it's that classic Ellen DeGeneres quip: “A disturbing study finds that studies are disturbing.”
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.