Safe and nutritious ‘baon’ begins at home

MANILA, Philippines - Protecting your child’s baon doesn’t just begin the moment your kid steps out the door to go to school. Before a sandwich or rice meal makes its way into your child’s lunch box, it first exists in the form of essential ingredients that need to be stored and handled properly so that the prepared baon stays fresh longer and uncontaminated right through recess and lunch time.

According to the article “Food Safety Tips for Healthy Eating” by Dr. Lourdes Jacobo, different types of bacteria can multiply rapidly in most foods such that millions of them can fit on a pinhead, thriving in temperatures between 5° and 60°C.

However, these risks shouldn’t scare parents from preparing school meals in their own kitchens. Making school snacks at home can be a way to ensure that the food the children are eating will adequately furnish 1/3 of their daily food requirements. The 7th National Nutrition Survey by FNRI discloses that a mere 1/5 of school-aged children met the recommended intake for energy (21.5%) and vitamin A (19.6%), while only half met the recommended protein intake (54.7%) for the day.

Taking extra precaution is the key to reducing exposure to food poisoning, and a good place to start is when one buys safe food.

The article “Food Safety Tips for Healthy Eating” also mentions that if products labeled “keep refrigerated” or “keep chilled” are not stored in the chilled section, don’t buy them. Make sure to pick up refrigerated and frozen food toward the end of your shopping trip, and remember to ask the packer to put raw proteins in a separate bag to avoid raw meat juices from spilling on other food items like vegetables.

Maintaining proper storage at home and for packed foods like school baon is crucial. FNRI recommends keeping food in closed containers and wraps, which are made from Bisphenol-A (BPA)-free plastic, to prevent contaminants from quickly spoiling or incorporating into the food that can then cause food poisoning and other food-borne diseases.

For its part, Glad, a leading brand for food protection and kitchen management, gives some practical storage tips to keep the texture, flavor, and condition of ingredients at their best, longer:

• Cut-up apples store well in the fridge if the wedges are first soaked in a solution of one tablespoon lemon juice per cup of water. Drain well and store in a double-lock Glad Zipper Bag, with as much air squeezed out as possible. Storage bags take up less space and are transparent so you know immediately what’s inside.

• Sandwich garnishes like sliced lettuce will keep fresh and crisp in a Glad Zipper Bag with a lightly dampened paper towel inside, while chopped or sliced carrots will stay fresh in the crisper drawer inside a GladWare food protection container that comes in different sizes.

• Fresh-baked cookies, which have been completely cooled, can be stored in airtight GladWare. Put soft and crisp cookies in separate GladWare containers to keep their consistency right. For soft cookies that are too dry, include a slice of apple in the storage to bring back moisture, while hard cookies that are too soft can be accompanied by a piece of bread to help absorb moisture.

• Ham and hotdogs can stay in their original packaging inside the freezer until ready to use. Once opened, place the frozen processed meats in a tightly sealed Glad Freezer Zipper bag or in a GladWare food protection container.

For more tips on food protection, cooking, and how to get the most out of Glad products, visit the Facebook page GladKitchen. Glad products are available in leading supermarkets nationwide.