Written by Annalisa Barbieri

I am after a school lunch box for my daughter that isn’t pink and glittery and will withstand dragging backwards and forwards to school as we get through so many. I also desperately want a small wide-mouthed flask for her to take soup to school in. I have looked high and low and cannot find one anywhere (that doesn’t go in a microwave to be heated up). I remember having one as a child - where have they all gone?! Debbie Lewis, Brighton

Ah, school lunches, what memories. My mum used to make my sandwiches out of “yesterday’s dinner” and they were frequently wholemeal on one side and white on another. Fabulous. Food flasks aren’t the easiest of things to find, you need to go to the sort of department stores that realise we still sew and eat (ie John Lewis) or look at camping/specialist websites.
The one I’ve found that’s the neatest and smallest is the Thermos Every Day Stainless Steel Food Flask, £16 (although £17 in John Lewis and sadly not available on its website; for other stockists go to www.thermos.co.uk). It’s perfect for soup or stew for one and you eat it straight out of the wide-mouthed flask, there is no cap that turns into a cup. The downside is that it only keeps food hot for five hours - that will probably be enough time between you filling it and your daughter’s lunchtime, but let me just mention that you can optimise the length of time a flask maintains its heat by filling it with boiling water for five minutes first.

Another one that you should look at (also from John Lewis) is the Thermos Multi-Purpose Food and Drink Flask. This comes in three sizes but the smallest, 0.75l is £13 (it also comes in 1.2 and 1.8 litres and prices rise to £20), and would be just right for your daughter. This is much more of a conventional looking flask, with a cup and handle; it has a 10-year guarantee and keeps food hot for up to eight hours, but it’s bulkier than the Food Flask.

Little Trekkers (www.littletrekkers.co.uk, tel: 01226 767900) is a great website that has several good flasks. One for you to look at is the Food Jar, £13.99; this comes in two patterns: one geometric, called Red Line, and one pink, called Flower Power. It’s very similar to the Food Flask in that your daughter would need to eat from it - there’s no cup - and it keeps food hot for only five hours. All the flasks mentioned are stainless steel and “virtually unbreakable”.

My two favourite suggestions for lunch boxes are quite different: first, the BYO Lunch Pack, £17.75 (www.onestopbeachshop.com tel: 01282 603 344) is a fabulous neoprene lunch box, with the neoprene acting as an insulator. I like soft lunch boxes because when empty, they take up less space. The pay-off is that they don’t protect the food quite as well. The BYO Lunch Pack also has kudos factor - if such things are important - because they’re not easy to find in this country.

Second is the Sigg Aluminium clip-shut lunch box, £15.95 for the medium size. I’m a big fan of Sigg, it’s a Swiss make and its products are always of excellent quality. Although the aluminium is prone to denting it is actually the hardiest of the lunch boxes that I’ve suggested. Sigg also makes plastic lunchboxes such as the blue ABC lunch box, £4.50; both Sigg models are available from Little Trekkers.

Another soft option is the Polar Gear Fold Up Lunch Cooler (www.polargear.co.uk tel: 01932 836420), £4; this comes in electric blue, pink or black and is insulated - when finished with it folds up neat and small. Lakeland (www.lakelandlimited.co.uk tel: 015394 88100) has two very simple lunch boxes: the Chill-It, £4.95 is particularly good because it has a dedicated space at the top for an ice pack, which comes with it; or the Lunch Cube, £3.95, which has three separate compartments that fold out and can be used to eat from. This is particularly good if your daughter takes things like salads to school rather than just sandwiches.

My idea of hell (an un-neat hunk of plastic), but children love it, is the Lunch Pod, £7.99 (www.lunchpod.co.uk, from Mothercare branches or tel: 01932 836420 for other stockists). This is a round lunch “box” and it opens using gravity - so there is no lid to take off, but the pod automatically opens when you turn it. You have to see it to really understand it and don’t worry, the food doesn’t fall out on its own.

A couple of tips to bear in mind: whatever you end up buying, freezing a bottle of water and then putting it in with the packed lunch during the summer months helps keep things cool, and the water should be at optimum temperature for drinking come lunch time. Foil acts as a good insulator, rather than plastic, for sandwiches; and remember that cold air falls, so any ice-packs you put into a lunch box should go on the very top.

· Shopping problems Contact Personal Shopper, The Guardian, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER or email annalisa.barbieri@mac.com