How long can I keep meat in a cooler bag?

[lavenderbluedilly]

We are driving to our self-catering holiday tomorrow, which is a 7 hour drive. I was planning on bringing fresh mince, burgers, steaks and sausages in a cooler bag with lots of ice packs. Does this sound ok or will I end up giving everyone food poisoning?!

I'd think about freezing at least one of them to allow time to defrost and keep the general temp lower.

Do you have a small fridge thermometer that you can put in the cool bag so you can check that it stays cold enough? If you are not planning on eating the food immediately, I would freeze it tonight, then pack it up with ice packs, it should stay very cold if not frozen.

I don’t have a fridge thermometer, but I could perhaps freeze the mince to keep the other items cooler

Freezer it all and it'll be ok for 2-3 days in the cool box with ice packs - I had to leave stuff out when we went camping recently as it failed to defrost!

Thanks, I think I’ll do this!