Two weeks to go before the school year opens and I’m already trying to draw up a list of packed school lunches and quick recess meals for the kids. But food is not the only thing on my mind right now. There’s also the matter of food containers.
When I first read about bisphenol-A, a chemical in plastic containers that is suspected of causing breast cancer, I wondered at all those years when I was a grade schooler and eating my packed lunch from Tupperware containers. Gosh, my mother loved Tupperware so much that we had them in all colors.
I wondered too if I had been remiss, if I had been negligent in not informing myself properly, because when I became a mother, I did the same for my kids. I bought Tupperwares in all the lovely colors and packed their lunches in those leak-proof (well, not always but mostly) containers. I packed their sandwiches in plastic bags too just like my mother did with mine. Oh, okay, it’s more like “like the yaya did with mine per my mother’s instructions.”
Anyway, when the kids became grade schoolers and their classes lasted from morning until afternoon, they required larger containers for their packed school lunches. Speedy bought stackable stainless steel food containers (pombrera) which they used for about two years. Their complaint? They weren’t leak-proof. Since they occasionally brought food with sauces, lunch could be a messy affair. So we switched back to plastic containers. The kids used a succession of plastic lunch boxes for the past three years or so. And plastic bags for their sandwiches. Then, along came the scare about bisphenol-A.
The question is: Are we going to switch back to the pombrera because of bisphenol-A? Or are we going to switch to glass food containers? Glass… the answer to that is a no brainer, really. The threat of maybe-cancer in the long term; the threat of cuts (which may even be fatal) from broken glass in the short term.
Honestly… I don’t like feeling scared. I like being informed but I don’t want to pull a Howard Hughes, you know? I don’t want my kids to be scared too — scared of breathing less than perfect air, scared of what-ifs, scared of the unknown… If the anti-plastic containers advocates can show me more than the results from a battery of tests done on rodents, I’d reconsider switching back to the pombrera. Otherwise, the kids and I are okay with the plastic food containers.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Kongkong 06.05.07 at 10:08 am
Well, better not get panicky. Can’t be that bad. You’re right, didn’t we all grow up eating lunch from plastic containers? Eh di dapat patay na tayo lahat. Siguro naman if it’s tupperware, rubbermaid, or lock and lock sana less of the toxic stuff. Obvious bang brand-conscious.
What are we supposed to do? Pwede na din to go back to the “balot-balot” in banana leaves. Wala na sigurong lason yun
cecile 06.05.07 at 11:43 am
how about those high-quality Japanese lunch kits with metal containers but has a vacuum cover?
Connie 06.05.07 at 12:38 pm
LOL Kongkong, I can imagine the mess while the kids unwrap their baon hehehe
Cecile, wow, meron pala nun? That sounds ideal! LOL You just gave me the perfect excuse to go shopping hhehehehe I LOVE SHOPPING!
Sam 06.05.07 at 5:35 pm
Yum Com the chicken with potato salad looks good enough to eat. Nagutom ako sa picture.
Connie 06.05.07 at 10:05 pm
Ikaw talaga Sam, yung food agad nakita mo hehehehe
James Obejas 06.06.07 at 12:26 am
Hi there ms. Connie, I got a Copy of Kuwentong Tambay, nakakatuwa, Fil.Fiction…
I salute you for having a blog like this (the mommy journals) kasi parang it is for everyone to see and to learn from dibah?…
Do drop a not on my blog, i will appreciate it po, nativecolour.blogspot.com and papipi.blogspot.com
God bless and more power ms. Connie!!!
pinaygourmand 06.06.07 at 3:38 am
I grew up using the pombrera cause I hated yung lasang plastic na kanin (my mom also was worried of such) which is a result of packing a newly cooked rice in a plastic container. If saucy or soupy ang baon we used what cecile described. I think nowadays it can be found in some stores but noon I remember few have noticed my lunch box and wanted to get one but my mom bought it then during a trip to Japan or Korea, wala mahanap dito. Believe it or not, my niece uses my lunch boxes (after over 15 years!) for the same reason, plastic and its derivatives effect on food issues.
Connie 06.06.07 at 10:22 am
pinaygourmand, naku, eh san kaya ako makakabili nun? ma-email si cecile…
carol 06.06.07 at 1:05 pm
Connie, check out the houseware section of Rustan’s. They have a line of sleek, Japan-made “baunans” and water jugs that are a bit pricey but will certainly be worth it in the long run.
Connie 06.06.07 at 2:09 pm
Ah sa Rustan’s. Okay, thanks, Carol. Next panood ng sine sa Shangri-La.
auee 06.06.07 at 10:21 pm
I’m sticking with “plastic” too. Reliable na sya sa akin.
re: Tupperware
I remember attending Tupperware Parties with Nanay. I’d be engrossed with the catalogues & pretend to eat the food shown in the pages
Connie 06.07.07 at 2:34 am
James, ok yung post mo about Caridad Sanchez ah.
Auee, actually, we haven’t bought Tupperwares since we moved to Antipolo. Napansin ko, ang hirap alisin ng mantika?!?
julie 06.09.07 at 6:19 am
Pombrero pala ang tawag dun, hehehe… Didn’t know. Daughter’s baon are usually in Tupperware or Rubbermaid. Sandwiches are wrapped in big table napkins and put in brown paper bag.
sassy mom 06.09.07 at 11:59 am
Hi, mommy connie!
Don’t be alarmed that much … we all grew up with tupperware.
Right now, I use the rubbermaid leak-proof baunans for the kids and me … yes! nagbabaon ako sa office cause I had buying outside … sayang sa oras! Besides, Iba na ang luting bahay and it’s cheaper too.
Connie 06.09.07 at 2:15 pm
julie, “Sandwiches are wrapped in big table napkins and put in brown paper bag.” That’s what “experts” advise. Or, wrap in wax paper before putting inside a plastic sandwich bag.
Ah my fellow sassy creature heehehe ka-praning lang kasi minsan, di ba? And it’s so true about lutong bahay. I think that’s why my kids never found school canteen food appetizing.
Always Trying 06.15.07 at 8:29 pm
Congratulations– this is a great blog/website:) I usually heat the food in a ceramic/microwavable container (if applicable, to “sterilize” it ) then transfer it to a plastic one when it it has cooled a bit this way the plastics dilemma is less scary. By the time the kids eat their food, it is lukewarm/cool anyway so heating it before it is packed is actually just a precautionary measure ( wala namang microwave sa school ng kids ko).If you like the taste of the store bought Mayo then salmonella should not be a worry since it’s packed with preservatives.
Leftovers from dinner the night before are great baons (if there is any left!) Adobo is always safe. A supermarket nearby me sells all sorts of marinated chicken breast ( teriyaki,rosemary and garlic,lemon grass, etc..) and you can mix with rice or pasta and tastes great!
Always Trying 06.15.07 at 8:47 pm
Stir fry meat and veggies are great baons. Shopwise sells great roast chicken and you can make yummy “wraps” with the village gourmet tortillas (you can also use loaf bread as sandwiches). Just add other yummy seasonings (cheese, bbq sauce, mustard, hoisin sauce,salad…) and you have a gourmet baon!
Peter 06.23.07 at 3:55 pm
I remember having my lunch’s wrapped in wax paper and having liquids in a thermos bottle. I guess the old ways are still the best and healthiest. Time to start looking for those old tin lunch boxes with whatever today’s hero’s are for the kids.
chunky 09.10.07 at 10:17 am
hi connie, may bago na namang baunan sa market…yesterday i went to sm megamall and bought a new plastic container, pretty much like lock and lock pero, hindi china. the container has vacuum thingee…nabaliw na naman ako. i like these stuff kasi para organized ang pantry. halos ganun din ang price, 600ml container costs like Php129.00.