How Healthy is Your Child’s Packed Lunch Container?

We may be throwing them in washing machines and anti-backing to within an inch of its life, but how clean do those silly cool bag school pack lunch containers really get?

According to a study carried out at on packed lunch bags at a Bath school, children’s containers were packed with harmful bacteria.

Seven in ten contained asthma and eczema triggering moult and one in five contained potentially dangerous Staphylococci.

The survey was commissioned by e-cloth who obviously do have an interest in keeping lunchboxes hygienic.

Spokesperson Laurence Smith said: “The high volumes of non food-borne bacteria suggests that we aren’t washing our hands before we pack or eat from our lunch boxes.

“It also shows that we aren’t cleaning them properly either, which is allowing mould to spore and bacteria to grow.

“They might look clean, with their shiny interior, and often, all we’ll do is shake out the crumbs but there is an underworld of invisible germs growing that we all need to be aware of.”

e-cloth recommends cleaning your lunch box in the following ways:

DO

WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU EAT – It might sound like obvious advice but bacteria can easily transfer from our skin onto our food. Soap and water is all you need.

CLEAN AFTER EVERY USE – bacteria and mould thrive in this type of environment and will easily spread if you don’t remove them.

USE WHITE VINEGAR – Use neat to naturally disinfect your lunchbox or dilute with water. Then just wipe clean.

USE BICARBONATE OF SODA – Sprinkle it into your lunchbox and leave overnight – it’s a great deodoriser

USE AN E-CLOTH – They’re made up of millions of tiny fibres and are clinically proven to remove over 99 per cent of bacteria as well as heavy dirt, grease and anything else you might find under the lid of your lunchbox, using just water.

DON’T

USE THE WASHING MACHINE – Most of the fabric lunchboxes will have care instructions on them, it’s likely that the thermos layer will get damaged if you put them on a hot wash and there is no guarantee that you will have removed all of the germs using this method.

USE BABY WIPES – whilst the lunchboxes might look clean, these wipes are not designed for removing bacteria.

USE CHEMICAL CLEANING SPRAYS – Scientists from the University of Bergen in Norway say regular exposure to cleaning chemicals lead to more asthma and respiratory symptoms. These sprays also leave a chemical residue on surfaces which can then transfer onto the food you put in your lunchbox.

USE A DRY TEA TOWEL / DISH CLOTH – just like the baby wipes, it might make your lunch box look clean but all you’re doing is moving the bacteria around rather than getting rid of it.