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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be cross with my husband over this

106 replies

Inmy40 · 06/03/2023 20:42

Youngest dc has a club on a Monday night so goes off to school with a packed lunch to eat after school before club. Ham sandwich, carrot sticks, juice etc and 2 ice packs. DH just collected dc at 8 pm and they hadn’t eaten packed lunch after school so he insisted they eat it in the car at 8 pm. Admittedly dc was hungry. That ham sandwich has been in the sandwich bag for 12 hours. Ice packs no longer cold. Aibu to be cross that he made dc eat it or should he have waited until he got home and I would have made something fresh? Please tell me food poisoning is not on the cards for tonight as I have such a busy day in work tomorrow which would cause chaos if I have to miss .

OP posts:
EarringsandLipstick · 06/03/2023 21:49

If the kid has food poisoning

Nobody is getting food poisoning

EarringsandLipstick · 06/03/2023 21:49

Some of these replies are bonkers. Even by MN standards

Hercisback · 06/03/2023 21:51

Well, of course it didn't. There was little or no risk of food poisoning

This.

Mine would have eaten it without the ice packs. Chill out.

853ax · 06/03/2023 21:52

No way would food poisoning enter my head.
Never give my children ice packs to keep lunch fresh/cool.
Is that common ?
Can imagine if child came into car complaining of being very hungry and had food in bag id say eat that.

RichardHeed · 06/03/2023 21:54

Are ice packs in lunch boxes the norm now? None of us died from eating a sweaty ham sandwich out of our my little pony plastic lunchboxes that had been festering in the cloak room for hours, he will be fine. You know ham is traditionally cured for a reason right…

thecatsmeows · 06/03/2023 21:58

I grew up in Australia until I was 10.

All we got for lunch was 4 sandwiches. No sweets, carrots sticks, half the fucking deli counter of Sainsbury's that mothers today seem to send their kids in with.

No ice packs. Lunch box was in our bag until we got it out to eat. Where I'm from in Oz, it regularly gets to 40 degrees during the day in summer. We still ate our fucking lunch every day....

thecatsmeows · 06/03/2023 21:59

...and none of us ever got food poisoning.

likeafishneedsabike · 06/03/2023 21:59

I mean, a tuna sandwich that’s been left out as part of a buffet, festering away in hot conditions …gross. But a ham sandwich all wrapped up and kept cool? Perfectly edible and no risk of food poisoning at all.
the only issue here is a child who isn’t hungry after school. Generally a good time to take on some calories and restore some energy.

Songbird54321 · 06/03/2023 22:01

I used a pack of ham about 2 weeks out of date at the weekend and I’m still here to tell the tale. I pretty much go by the sniff test, if it looks/smells ok then I’ll eat it. I’ve never had food poisoning.
It wouldn’t even enter my mind that a sandwich a few hours old would have to be chucked out.
I think you’re being harsh on your DH

toastfiend · 06/03/2023 22:03

It will be fine, the ice packs will have kept it cold for most of the day.

Weird that your husband is forcing your kids to eat stuff they don't seem to want, though, unless I've misread the tone of your posts? I'd be annoyed about that, not the ham sandwich.

xprincessxjanetx · 06/03/2023 22:03

Just remembering back to my school days. My mum would often make my lunch the night before and pop it in the fridge. Then i'd take it to school with shock horror no ice packs and eat it with sweaty cheese in it! Never bothered me at all and never got ill.

Foronenightonly22 · 06/03/2023 22:05

My DH works outdoors and hates chilled lunches. He refuses ice packs/cool bags and I have given up arguing. He takes sandwiches/salads day in day out winter and summer. His lunch is sat in his car at all times. He’s done this for 30 years and he’s never sick. I wouldn’t recommend it but hopefully one unrefrigerated sandwich in March won’t cause your son any ill effects

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 06/03/2023 22:05

I don't see what the problem is. I wouldn't give it a second thought. I've never put ice packs in DDs lunch box. She sometimes eats it when she comes in from school so it'll have been in her bag for 8 hours. Never had a problem.

It's been really cold today too. The sandwich was probably still cold!

ReadersD1gest · 06/03/2023 22:05

I imagine the child was complaining about being hungry and the dad "made" him eat the packed lunch rather than buying him something else.
Not literally forced him to eat it for the sheer hell of it.

JMSA · 06/03/2023 22:06

I think you've overreacted a wee bit.

DemonSpawn · 06/03/2023 22:09

Food poisoning after 12 hours in winter?

Ha ha, pull the other one. It might not have tasted as nice as when it was first made, but it would have been fine even after 24 hours.

PhantomOfTheAquarium · 06/03/2023 22:10

YABU. DC is not getting food poisoning from a sandwich kept in a lunchbox that's had two ice packs in it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a part of this story missing, like DC asking for a takeaway when DH picked them up.

scrivette · 06/03/2023 22:10

I would have been annoyed if DH had told him not to eat it - waste of a perfectly good sandwich.

ReliantRobyn · 06/03/2023 22:11

It's 50 50 for food poisoning. Hot sweaty ham is a lovely home for bacteria.

ReadersD1gest · 06/03/2023 22:12

ReliantRobyn · 06/03/2023 22:11

It's 50 50 for food poisoning. Hot sweaty ham is a lovely home for bacteria.

Of course it isn't. It's only a few hours out of the bloody ice pack.

gamerchick · 06/03/2023 22:12

It'll be fine. It's not the height of summer.

Daffodilsandbeer · 06/03/2023 22:14

It’s fine but it’s not my definition of lunch or anyone I know. I’d also not make a child eat anything they didn’t wish, I find you both weird

Daffodilsandbeer · 06/03/2023 22:16

Also what do you mean he’s made the child eat it. Its lubes so abusive. How exactly did he do rhis?

StrawHatOnTheParcelShelf · 06/03/2023 22:20

MikeWozniaksMohawk · 06/03/2023 21:27

If he’s normally eating it at around 3.30/4 then by then it’s already 7-8 hours old. You’re not comparing fresh food with something that’s been out all day. It’s a few hours later.

That was my thought too. If a friend takes him to his activity, how do you know the food is still fresh and cool after school? I doubt it would be TBH.

bhiffandcip · 06/03/2023 22:22

Tbh I made one of my kids a ham and cheese sandwich every school day for 14 years and I never used an ice pack. 😳