Do lunchables need to be refrigerated?

[Mommee]

My son says no. He wants to take a pizza lunchable on his field trip and swears up and down that most of the class does this and nobody has keeled over

Will it be okay? We're looking at 3-4 hours out of refrigeration.

TIA

 

[Lisa71]

Any with meat would, and my guess is the package says too....but in reality cheese is not too bad out...maybe get it really, really cold?? Or pack a blue ice in it and let him throw it away after!

 

[Coconut36]

I think they do. There is cheese at a minimum..some have peperoni as well (in regards to the pizza lunchables). I personally would not eat cheese or peperoni left to the elements for 3-4 hours (the food safety rule is 2 hours or less or bacteria can form and cause food poisoning).

What about freezing something like a juice box or capri sun and putting it in there with it to keep cool? Do they have to have a paper sack of can they take a insulated lunch box..with an insulated lunch box and a cold pack no worries. With a paper sack you could do the frozen drink thing and it will help keep it cool.

 

[smitch425]

My son says no. He wants to take a pizza lunchable on his field trip and swears up and down that most of the class does this and nobody has keeled over

Will it be okay? We're looking at 3-4 hours out of refrigeration.

TIA

Not familiar with the pizza ones, but for the PB&J ones I take them out of the freezer the night before and put them in the fridge. They then go into the lunchbox in the morning with a blue ice pack.

If he has to take a completely disposable lunch then I would just fill a baggie or two with ice that can be thrown away with the lunch bag, otherwise just use an ice pack if he can bring it back home.

ETA: Just realized you said lunchabe and not uncrustable (duh me). Same advice applies though. When DD takes a turkey or ham lunchable she always uses an ice pack.

 

[DLB]

I was a chaperone on my daughters field trip recently and I was in shock with what some children had for lunches. Kids brought everything from a day old McDonalds burger, a subway grinder, lunchables, you name it.

We were on an all day field trip and the children were asked to bring a brown bag lunch that didn't need refrigeration. Many children had meals that had meat, cheese and mayo.

Not that this really answers your question, but some parents do send kids lunches that "need" refrigeration despite knowing there will be none.

 

[shortbun]

freeze the drink and put it back in. That should keep things ok til lunch. I always slipped a naplin in as well as a few baby carrots too.

 

[smitch425]

Just be aware that if you freeze the drink, there is a chance that it will not thaw out in time for lunch. Especially if the school uses a cooler to store the lunches in. I made the mistake of freezing DD's water on Field day last year and she took about two drinks before it was nothing but ice. Fortunately, I was at school and you can see our house from the school parking lot, so I just ran home and got her another drink. Other kids with still-frozen drinks didn't have that luxury.

 

[happytexasmom]

I worked at an elementary for many yrs and saw kids bring things from day old pizza to all sorts of lunchables to homemade chicken burritos.......and very often sandwiches with mayo and deli meat.

as long as it is not going to be left in the sun or in heat they will be fine. Most of the time teachers take large icechest for drinks and lunches......you should ask his teacher

 

[msjprincess]

Like others have said, just freeze a juice box. It should be fine.

When I was a kid everyone brought sandwiches to school with no refrigeration, AC or ice packs and somehow we survived. LOL

 

[DLB]

Just be aware that if you freeze the drink, there is a chance that it will not thaw out in time for lunch. Especially if the school uses a cooler to store the lunches in. I made the mistake of freezing DD's water on Field day last year and she took about two drinks before it was nothing but ice. Fortunately, I was at school and you can see our house from the school parking lot, so I just ran home and got her another drink. Other kid's with still-frozen drinks didn't have that luxury.

I would agree with this because several kids did have frozen drinks (at DD field trip I spoke about earlier) and they were very frustrated that they couldn't get much of a drink.

Maybe half frozen is the way to go???

 

[ols386]

If it's a pizza lunchable I would think it would be ok left out for 3-4 hours, as long as it's not sitting in a car that's well over 100 degrees (from sitting in the sun).

If you're talking about general storage of a lunchable after you bring it home from the grocery store, until you eat it, then definitely needs refrigeration.

Anything that has mayo on it, I wouldn't leave it sitting out for longer than an hour or two at the most (or less time, if the temperature is hot).

 

[indimom]

Okay, bad mom here.
I've let my son take the pepperoni pizza lunchable on a field trip. Didn't even freeze anything to send with it. Just pulled the drink and lunchable from the fridge at the last minute and bagged it up. I figured the cheese and pepporni are so processed and preserved, it wouldn't go bad in a few hours.

 

[Hannathy]

as long as it is cold to start with it will be fine. My DD used to take these all the time.

Depending on your son's age I might put something else in with it, they aren't very big. But they are fun to take on field trips and add something special rather than the usual everyday lunch.

 

[Kae]

Okay, bad mom here.
I've let my son take the pepperoni pizza lunchable on a field trip. Didn't even freeze anything to send with it. Just pulled the drink and lunchable from the fridge at the last minute and bagged it up. I figured the cheese and pepporni are so processed and preserved, it wouldn't go bad in a few hours.

Must be a hoosier thing I have done it too. Both kids are semi-normal

Kae

 

[Mommee]

It does have to be completely disposable. He's 11, and this is the first time we've encountered this. At the kids' previous school they had "field trip lunches" that were paid out of your lunch account and delivered to the bus for the teacher.

Thanks for the ideas...I have to go buy the lunchable so I'll look for a cheap ice pak he can pitch or a second juice box to freeze if its cheaper to go that way. Our ice paks for packed at-school lunches are cute shapes and not cheap so it never occurred to me to let him throw an ice pak away. We've had the frozen-juice-at-lunch issue before so I no longer do that

 

[Hannathy]

You could get the yogurt in the tubes (if he likes those) and freeze one or two and add that to the lunch. Adds a bit to the lunchable and keeps it cold. And disposable and edible!

 

[NAB]

I think you will be fine...

Took a brown paper bag lunch for 4 years while in school before ice packs were popular and insultated lunch boxes. Took meat sandwiches all the time. My favourite was egg salad on field trip with a can of pepsi. Only time we were allowed pop was on field trips .Never got sick ....guess I was lucky

Mind you we used to leave coloured Easter eggs all day on Easter Sunday too. And they say that is a no no.

 

[Coconut36]

I was a chaperone on my daughters field trip recently and I was in shock with what some children had for lunches. Kids brought everything from a day old McDonalds burger, a subway grinder, lunchables, you name it.

We were on an all day field trip and the children were asked to bring a brown bag lunch that didn't need refrigeration. Many children had meals that had meat, cheese and mayo.

Not that this really answers your question, but some parents do send kids lunches that "need" refrigeration despite knowing there will be none.

Yep I saw this too when I have chaperoned. Shocked me to say the least. Also..the OP kid doesn't know that some kid didn't go home and throw up or have other stomach issues from eating the 3-4 hour lunchable.

 

[Imzadi]

I think you will be fine...

Took a brown paper bag lunch for 4 years while in school before ice packs were popular and insultated lunch boxes. Took meat sandwiches all the time. My favourite was egg salad on field trip with a can of pepsi. Only time we were allowed pop was on field trips .Never got sick ....guess I was lucky

Mind you we used to leave coloured Easter eggs all day on Easter Sunday too. And they say that is a no no.

I guess everyone growing up in the 50s, 60s & 70s are lucky too. We had brown paper bags or those metal lunch boxes. Most are collectors items now. We had glass thermoses but no such thing as ice insulation bags or packs. Baggies of ice wasn't even ever thought of.

Most of us brought cold cuts with mayo or egg salad sandwiches, or cheese sandwiches. School started at 8:30. Lunch, depending on classes, started at 12:00 or 1:00. If kids rode the school bus, lunch had to be made even earlier at home.

Sometimes if I am working a seminar or event and I know I won't be able to buy food easily, I still bring a bag lunch. I bring mayo packets now though. But still no ice packs. It may be 4-5 hours before I get to eat.

According to class reunions & Facebook, the majority of us survived. Who'd have thought we are all supposed to be dead from the way our lunches were packed?

 

[goofy!]

Must be a hoosier thing I have done it too. Both kids are semi-normal

Kae

Not a hoosier thing. I am in the Bad Mommy Club too as my kids have brought lunchables to field trips. Without a gel pack.

And they have survived. The pepperoni is basically salami, which is ok not refrigerated and cheese can stay out for several hours. Or days in my parent's country (Holland -known for their cheese.)

The sauce is in a sealed package that does not need to be refrigerated. It is just like all those mayo, mustard and ketchup packs sitting on the counter in fast food restaurants.