safe food storage containers

[twinalicious]

With all the scary toxic stuff out there I feel like I am on wild goose chase to find safe food storage containers. Especially for my kids lunches. Is BPA free (polypropylene #5) plastic really safe? What about metal lunch containers made in China? Glass with plastic lids??? ... I'm going crazy here! I’m thinking the only safe thing for school lunches is bags made from organic cotton. But my son’s gluten free bread would be stale by lunch in that…urgh. Why is this such a toxic world?!

I would appreciate some thoughts, feed back, links to things people use, word of wisdom…

Thanks!

[crunchy_mommy]

We use glass with plastic lids or glass jars (mason jars or reuse jars from store-bought foods). I figure the food is usually not in contact with the lids much & glass otherwise seems like the safest option to me. It can be a bit heavy though, so we also have a few stainless steel containers and we do use plastic occasionally (and only for dry stuff, where it can't leach into the food much).

I use an insulated lunch bag so all the glass isn't at risk of breaking. If you're using thin cloth sacks, it might be an issue, especially if your kids tend to toss their bags around...

[Beltane]

We recently switched over to the pyrex brand (BPA free lids) that Amazon sells.  Both DH and I pack a lunch to work and DD takes the same with her to daycare.  In all honestly they are not nearly as heavy or cumbersome as I thought they were going to be.  I'm glad we made the change.

[Danielle0407]

Some schools don't allow glass, That was our problem, We got the metal lunchbots ones and so far like them. My DD usually brings leftovers (no nuts policy) and so far no complaints.

[DahliaRW]

The one rule I've read with plastic is to not microwave it or wash it in the dishwasher.  Anything where it gets really hot can cause it to release toxins.  It's also safer with dry food (more likely wet foods will take on the chemicals).

For us I use the ziploc d containers.  They are BPA free and cheap and I love the 3 compartments.  I pack lunch for preschool for one child, and at the same time pack lunches for the 3 of us at home so at lunch time all we have to do is pull them out of the fridge and eat.  I do have a stainless steel thermos for the child going to school if I want to send hot items (and I do hot items at home in regular dishes, not plastic).