Germs for Lunch? 9 out of 10 Preschoolers' Lunches May Be Unsafe
Sending your children off to school or daycare always comes with its share of concern - parents worry over everything from the safety of the busses that kids ride on to the integrity of the people who care for them.
Now it turns out that there may be an added risk, and it's one that starts right at home: sack lunches. It turns out that recent testing has shown that by the time kids unpack their midday meals, 9 out of 10 of them have reached temperatures conducive to bacteria growth. Surprisingly, that even goes for lunches that have been prepared with ice packs.
Parents shouldn't necessarily be alarmed by this news, though. While conditions may be right for a potential threat, that doesn't mean that there is an appreciable increase in real risk.
According to Dr. Michael Green, a Pittsburgh-based pediatrician and pediatrics professor, “The risk could be going from one in a million to one in 950,000. Or it could be going to one in a thousand. We don’t know.”
So what should you do? Right now, the medical establishment has yet to put forward any particular guidance, but awareness is always a good place to start. To learn more about the study and what concerned parents should really take away from it, read the article here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44039875/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/t/out-preschoolers-lunches-reach-unsafe-temperatures/