New Interactive Lunch Kits and Vacuum-Insulated FUNtainers from Thermos Make Lunch Fun for Kids and Give Parents Piece of Mind

Business Wire, July 28, 2004

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. -- For decades, kids have expressed their personalities and made statements with the lunch boxes and Thermos(R) bottles they've carried to school. Today, as concerns over childhood obesity are soaring, particularly due to the unhealthy fare found in most cafeterias, packing healthy lunches from home becomes a critical part of teaching kids how to eat right. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15 percent of children are considered overweight (this has doubled since 1980). "If you practice healthy eating - ideally starting as a child - it just becomes second nature and part of your life," said Sandra Nissenberg, a registered dietitian and author of numerous books about healthy eating for kids and adults.

For Back-to-School season, Thermos is introducing interactive lunch kits and new kid-friendly vacuum containers to make it easier for parents to send fresh, healthy and safe food to school. Lunch kits have new takes on favorite characters like Barbie(TM) and Scooby-Doo(TM), changeable cover designs, hidden storage compartments and quick-playing games, while new FUNtainer(TM) Food Jars and Beverage Bottles have trendy designs and keep foods and drinks hot and cold for hours. "The idea is to get kids to want to take healthy foods from home to school," said Rick Dias, Thermos' vice-president of marketing. "Making the containers kids carry their lunches in more fun and engaging, helps parents compete with the hot dogs and pizza found in school cafeterias."

Keeping Lunch Hot and Cold

Thermos' new vacuum-insulated FUNtainers(TM) have bold colors and kid-friendly designs. Unlike juice boxes and water bottles, FUNtainer Beverage Bottles, keep drinks colder up to eleven hours and the containers stay condensation free, so kids don't end up with mushy sandwiches. Push button lids with pop-up straws make FUNtainer Beverage Bottles fun for kids and more hygienic because there is not need to touch the straw.

FUNtainer Food jars retain hot temperatures up to five hours and cold temperatures up to seven hours. Why is this important? "Most people who carry food from place to place do not realize that this behavior has potential for creating a dangerous health risk," said Dr. Randy Worobo, and Associate Professor of Food Microbiology in the Department of Food Science & Technology at Cornell University. According to Worobo, who has co-authored numerous books on the topic of food borne illness, "When food is left out at room temperature, food borne pathogenic bacteria that may be contained in the food can quickly multiply, leading to food that can cause serious food borne illness when consumed."

The USDA refers to the "Danger Zone" as the ideal temperature for bacterial growth, which is between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F and advises that food should not be left in the "Danger Zone" for more than 2 hours. If the temperature is over 90 degrees F, food should not be left out for more than 1 hour. FUNtainers keeps foods safer with TherMax(R) vacuum insulation, which virtually eliminates temperature change by creating an airless vacuum space between two stainless steel walls. "FUNtainer food jars allow parents to send their kids to school with nutritious food that will remain fresher and safer from the time they leave to the lunch hour," said Thermos' Dias.

Interactive Lunch Kits

New lunch kits are bringing entertainment to the cafeteria with built-in games and activities. "Kids will find their favorite characters, but with a twist," said Dias. For instance, a new Barbie(TM) hard plastic lunch kit comes with a static cling wardrobe that allows kids to change Barbie's outfit and a new Scooby-Doo(TM) soft kit has interchangeable cover designs, so kids don't have to take the same lunchbox to school everyday. Dual compartment Barbie(TM) and Hot Wheels(TM) kits have two separate storage areas and have pockets on the front of the kits for a note or anything kids don't want to forget. New Hide 'n Snak(TM) lunch kits have secret compartments hidden inside a frog or dog's mouth that let parents send their kids off to school with a special treat or note and new Snak 'n Spin(TM) lunch kits have quick-playing games with spinners built right into the lids.

Celebrating 100 Years of Lunch

Americans have been packing their lunches in Thermos containers since 1904 and to celebrate its centennial, Thermos has issued a three-piece set of commemorative metal lunch boxes featuring classic characters and designs. The Limited Edition lunch boxes include a replica of the 1964 McPherson Plaid lunch box; a Barbie lunch box inspired by artwork from 1962 and a replica of the Looney-Tunes lunch box from 1959.

Barbie is a trademark owned by and used under license from Mattel, Inc. (C)2004 Mattel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

SCOOBY-DOO and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and (C) Hanna-Barbera. (sO4)

Hot Wheels, flame logo, and the color "Hot Wheels blue", and associated trademarks designated by (TM) are U.S. trademarks of Mattel, Inc. (C) 2004 Mattel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.