In addition to pencils and textbooks, many parents will pack a lunch for their child to eat this school year, but it may not be as safe as many moms and dads think. YNN's Chris Whalen met with a registered dietician who explains how to keep that meal from going bad.

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BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- If your child brings a lunch to school, chances are it was packed at least three or four hours before they eat it.

A recent study conducted by the University of Texas found that 90 percent of more than 700 lunches tested were at a temperature that was unsafe for eating, increasing the chance of food-borne illnesses.

"That is the primary concern if lunches get into an unsafe temperature range, which is between 40 degrees and 140 degrees," said registered dietician Molly Morgan.

To keep our food from spoiling when we're at home, we keep it in the refrigerator, so it only makes sense that we'd want to keep our children's lunches at that same temperature while they're in school to make sure that the food doesn't go bad.

YNN enlisted the help of registered dietician Molly Morgan for some tips on how we can keep those noon-time meals as cool as possible. Morgan suggests using an insulated lunch bag with at least one ice pack as the first line of defense against bacteria. You should also store anything that needs to stay cold closest to the cooling source.

It also helps to pack as few perishable items as possible, but if you do choose to include things that are usually kept in the fridge, you can actually use them as cooling devices.

"Freeze items that you're putting in to the lunch, even the slices of bread, applesauce cups, yogurt cups, juice boxes and those items by lunch time will be perfect to eat and will help keep the lunch cool," said Morgan.

Finish off the packing process with another ice pack and see if your child's school has a cool place he or she can store their lunch box until it's time to chow down.