Foods to avoid packing in our kid’s lunch box Nigeria

When we posted on different foods to pack in your child’s Nigerian school lunch box. Didn’t think that there are foods to be avoided. I remember having a little argument with another mom that suggested we do not pack cut fruits because they’d get bad.

My argument was that I always pack fruits because school break time in Nigeria is between 10am and 12 noon. Breaking time for most schools in Nigeria falls around this time. By 10 and 12 noon, fruits should still be fresh. However, when I thought about it again. I realised that break time is not the only time that kids eat their food and snacks.

What about kids who have to stay longer at school for extra lessons? By 3, 4pm, those cut fruits won’t taste fresh unless they were kept in the fridge. How many schools have refrigerators installed in classrooms? To avoid serving our kids food that may not be good for their health, it’s best to put down a list of foods to avoid packing in the kids’ school lunch box.

It’s not only fruits. What about fresh fruit drinks? Those will taste fresh in the morning but may not remain fresh till afternoon when the kid might be thirsty. This to me is another food to avoid packing in kid’s lunch box. I also can’t pack milk drink for school and you shouldn’t too.

Milk gets bad easily. The kid may be drinking bad milk without our knowledge. So, milk to is one food to avoid packing in the kid’s lunch box.

Another food to avoid packing in the kid’s lunch box is ofada stew. The iru/dadawa (Locust beans) used in cooking ofada sauce makes it to get bad easily. It quickly begins to taste sour in the kid’s lunch box because it’s airtight. Especially when you cook, pack very hot and seal immediately. It doesn’t waste time to get bad. Once it starts tasting a bit sour. The smell too becomes terrible.

Imagine your kid enjoying his food while other kids block their noses while trying to peep into what Jasmine is eating. Some begin to ask embarrassing questions like “Is is your food that’s smelling?”

There are many more other foods to avoid packing in our kid’s lunch box. Let’s look at them below.

10 FOODS TO AVOID PACKING IN OUR KID’S LUNCH BOX

1. Ofada stew. If you have boiled rice and ofada stew at home. You can quickly make egg sauce to go with the rice. That lasts longer and smells better in class.
2. Milk drink
3. Fresh fruit drink.
4. Fish meals. Only pack if the fish is properly deboned.
5. Cut fruits. If the child is old enough to eat whole fruits, then pack whole.
6. Nigerian Pepper soup. Please keep it at home. He can enjoy it after school or on weekends.
7. Noodles without oil. Have you ever seen cold noodles that were cooked without oil? They look like Nigerian moin moin lump or cold eba. You can add oil while cooking or make it fried noodles, that will prevent the cold food from clumping together.
8. Beans porridge. I’m adding beans porridge to this list because I never pack it in my kid’s lunch box. If you must pack beans, make sure it’s properly warmed and won’t get bad before your kid eats it. A little beans with dodo (Plantain) is fine. Has anyone tried packing beans and bread or beans and garri before? Please help us share how to pack them by leaving a comment before.
9. Ogbono soup can easily soil the child’s school uniform while eating. Eating ogbono is a bit messy for kids unless you have trained the child to place shift his face forward and away from his school uniform.
10. Fruits with seeds like oranges. If the kid is below three and won’t know how to take out the seeds themselves, avoid giving foods with seeds. Even watermelons have seeds. If you cannot remove the seeds before packing, then avoid adding to the kid’s lunch box. For kids above three and those in Primary, you can give fruits with seeds. They are old enough not to choke.

Also read our NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCH BOX TIMETABLE AND MEAL PLAN FOR FOUR WEEKS

If you still have some time in your hands, you can look out our TIME SAVING LUNCH BOX TIPS FOR BUSY MOMS.