Stainless steel beats plastic for lunch boxes

Stainless steel lunch boxes don’t leach chemicals into your food and they don’t retain odors, but the right one for you depends on whether it needs to be leak-proof.

Steel is non-porous, so it can’t absorb smells the way plastic does, and there’s no coating to break down over time. The main thing to watch is getting food-grade 304 or 18/8 stainless. The cheap no-name brands sometimes use 201-grade steel, which can corrode and is not worth the savings.

For actual boxes: LunchBots makes sturdy clip-lid boxes that are great for most adults, but they’re not leak-proof, so leave the soup at home. PlanetBox is the premium option — magnetic lids, compartments, and the Rover model does seal well, which makes it a solid pick for kids. Thermos stainless food jars keep soup or curry hot until lunch. And don’t sleep on the classic Indian stainless tiffins if you want a cheap, stackable option — they’ve been doing this for decades.

The only part that can hang onto an odor is the silicone gasket on leak-proof models. That part is removable and cleans up fine in the dishwasher or with a quick soak. The steel itself will never hold onto a smell, which is the whole point.

Your lunch will finally taste like lunch, not the ghost of last Tuesday’s tuna.