How to Handle Lunch Meat

When making sandwiches for school box lunches, picnics or brown bagging it for work, lunch meats are a common filling. The lunch meat might be processed meat, such as baloney or salami, or it might be slices of cooked turkey, beef or ham, taken from a roast. It is not uncommon for lunch meat to go several hours without refrigeration--time between being made into a sandwich and consumed. Proper handling will help to prevent illness from food-borne disease.

Things You'll Need

• Hand soap
• Plastic wrap, foil or food storage bags

Instructions

1. Wash your hands, food prep surface and utensils with soap and warm water before they come in contact with lunch meat. This will help prevent harmful bacteria or germs from contaminating the lunch meat.

2. Check the expiration date on the packaging.If that date has past, discard.

3. Smell the lunch meat before using. If it has an unpleasant or spoiled odor, discard.

4. Wrap the sandwich prepared with lunch meat in airtight packaging--such as foil, plastic wrap or a sandwich bag--when storing until lunch.

5. Refrigerate lunch meat within tewo hours after taking from the refrigerator, or within on hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

6. Store unused lunch meat in an air-tight container and refrigerate. Storage time will vary depending on the type of lunch meat. For example, cooked, uncured ham will last about three to five days in the refrigerator, while prosciutto may last several months.

Tips & Warnings

• Never purchase lunch meat that is stored in torn or damaged packaging.

References

• Untied States Department of Agriculture; Safe Food Handling;
• USDHHS; Food Safety; Ham Storage Chart