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This simple trick will keep apples fresh in your kids' lunchboxes ALL day

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An Australian mum and organisation guru has revealed her simple hack to prevent cut apples from turning brown in your child's lunch box.

Anita Birges, who heads Mise en Place Professional Organising, shared the easy trick in an Instagram video to thousands of fans. 

The Sydney mum uses an apple cutter on the fruit and then holds the pieces together by tying a hair elastic over them.

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An Australian mum and organisation guru revealed her simple hack to prevent cut apples from turning brown in your child's lunch box

An Australian mum and organisation guru revealed her simple hack to prevent cut apples from turning brown in your child's lunch box

'Don't you hate when you pack your kids lunch boxes with freshly cut apples only to have them returned at the end of the day?' she asked her 64,300 followers.

Anita's children say apples go 'brown' by the time lunch rolls around, and admitted to finding them 'yucky'.

'I started using this "apple hack" about a year ago because it absolutely drove me bonkers that the apples I was cutting up for the kids weren't being eaten during the day,' the mum said.

Apples - and some other fruits - turn brown once they have been cut because of a chemical reaction from being exposed to oxygen.

Browning can also change the look, taste, and texture of fruit - and it estimated that the phenomenon is the cause of up to half of all household food waste worldwide.

But Anita's trick prevents the apple from being exposed to too much oxygen.

'All you need to do is cut up your apple with a slicer and piece it back together. Tie it up with a hair elastic or rubber band and you are done,' she said triumphantly.

'You can keep the brown away, keep them fresh all day, keep the waste at bay!'

All you need to do is cut up your apple with a slicer and piece it back together. Tie it up with a hair elastic or rubber band and you are done

All you need to do is cut up your apple with a slicer and piece it back together. Tie it up with a hair elastic or rubber band and you are done

Top 5 ways to keep your apples from browning 

  1. Cut the apple using a slicer and piece it back together by tying a hair elastic around the core
  2. Soak the cut apple in water for 2 minutes with a pinch of salt
  3. Drizzle lemon or lime juice all over the apple
  4. Add a lemon wedge to the lunch box 
  5. Stir 2 tbsps of honey into a cup of water and soak your apple slices in the mixture for 30 seconds

Hundreds thanked Anita for her simple trick and shared their own stories of 'picky eater' children.

'I tried it with a rubber band and the apple stayed fresh but my kids still didn't eat it ... because it smelled like rubber.'

'This is so awesome - I'm going to try it,' said another.

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