A packed lunch is a portable meal of cold foods assembled in a box, bag, or basket for eating away from home: at school, at work, or while travelling. The classic British formula centres on sandwiches with fruit, crisps, and a drink, though quality varies enormously from balanced wholegrain-and-protein combinations to confectionery-heavy grazing. Nutritionally, packed lunches are a public health concern because surveys repeatedly find children’s lunchboxes high in salt, sugar, and saturated fat and low in vegetables; school food standards that govern canteen meals do not apply to food brought from home. Food safety matters too: without refrigeration, perishable fillings must survive hours at ambient temperature, so cool bags with ice packs are advised, and high-risk fillings like chicken and egg mayonnaise deserve caution. Done well, the packed lunch is economical, customisable, and waste-conscious.