A school lunch staple, milk contains vitamins, protein, and other essential minerals that help children's bone density and growth. The American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend children drink milk every day. So how can K-12 schools ensure the milk products they're serving are safely handled?

Have The Best Storage

Milk is a critical aspect of all school lunch programs. Many children will not drink milk if it has an off flavor, or the temperature is too warm. Keeping milk at the right temperature is important from the time it is loaded off the truck until it's consumed by students. 

The optimal temperature for milk storage is 38-40 degrees Fahrenheit. While slightly cooler is acceptable, lowering the temperature too much will cause the milk to freeze. No student wants to drink a milk slushy! A temperature above 40 degrees will permit bacterial growth and cause the milk to become warm. Storing milk that is delivered in Thermo-Kool walk-in coolers will keep cool air in and warm air outside, where it belongs. Constructed for optimum strength, durability, and insulation, there's no concern for stored milk temperatures before being brought out to be served when kept in a Thermo-Kool. 

When storing inside the cooler, use Eagle Group shelving to keep everything organized. By knowing where everything is, it makes it easier for staff to rotate product and make sure everything is within the expiration dates. Eagle Group shelves are solidly built and come in different sizes, depending on the size of your Thermo-Kool cooler. 

Merchandise For Optimum Sales

While it might be tempting for school nutrition professionals to remove milk containers from the walk-in cool far in advance to get ahead of lunchtime, it's never advisable to leave milk containers unrefrigerated for long periods of time. This will change the smell, taste, and temperature of the milk, making it undesirable to most students which can cause food waste.

To ensure the milk containers never go out of temperature, remove them from the walk-in cooler and put the containers directly into a Federal Self-Service Refrigerated Milk Merchandiser. Designed specifically for school cafeterias, the Milk Merchandiser has space at the bottom for milk crates. Making it easier to stock supply and providing easier access for smaller children. Maintaining a constant temperature of 35-38 degrees Fahrenheit, the merchandisers keep milk and other cold products at temperature for every meal served, no matter what time of day it is.

Storing milk properly at the right temperature and making sure product is regularly rotated helps ensure that students are getting their daily nutrients and that food isn't going to waste.

To find out more about how Thermo-Kool, Eagle Group, and Federal can help your school cafeteria combat food waste, sign up for a free K-12 consultation with one of our sales reps.