{"id":125,"date":"2020-02-11T15:51:58","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T15:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=125"},"modified":"2024-01-29T11:01:21","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T11:01:21","slug":"are-plastic-containers-safe-for-food-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/are-plastic-containers-safe-for-food-storage\/","title":{"rendered":"Are plastic containers safe for food storage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether you\u2019re transporting food in high quantities for\nan event or you\u2019re simply bringing food with you to work, it can be tempting to\nuse a plastic container as a method of storage. Using plastic containers for\nstoring and transporting food does have its advantages over using things like\ntin foil and clingfilm, as it\u2019s easier to seal your food in and keep it fresh,\nhowever, are you doing more harm than good by using plastic ahead of other\nsuitable materials?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it safe to use\nplastic containers for food storage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In reality, a lot of the food we\neat is produced around plastic products, sold in plastic packaging, and any\nleftovers are left in a plastic container, so it\u2019s hard to entirely avoid using\nthe material. However, a very small, but genuine problem that could come from\nusing plastic to store food arises when harmful chemicals are used as part of\nthe material or the process of making the material. If your food is exposed to\nthese chemicals, this could lead to potential harm to anyone that consumes the\ncontaminated food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identifying plastics that are safe\nfor use is an important starting point. For example, polyvinyl chloride (PVC),\npolycarbonate (PC) and polystyrene (PS) are worth avoiding, as dangerous\nchemicals are used in the process of manufacturing them. It\u2019s not definite that\nthese chemicals will directly taint the food you store in a container made from\nthis material, but it\u2019s advisable to avoid them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as plastic containers\naren\u2019t created from any of these materials, you should be fine to use them for\nfood storage, even if they may not be intended for it. Really Useful Boxes<\/a> fall into this category\nas, even though they\u2019re primarily intended for storing household items, they\u2019re\nmade from polypropylene, which is a type of plastic that\u2019s recognised as being\nsafe for food storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could always play it safe and\nuse a plastic container that has been created for storing food. Even if you do\nchoose to do this, it would still be advisable to avoid microwaving food in the\ncontainer. Although many of these plastics will claim to be oven or microwave\nsafe, excessively heating up a container could lead to the plastic melting and\nreleasing potentially harmful chemicals into your food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same can be said for using a\nplastic container for food storage immediately after washing it with hot water.\nBy doing this, you could be triggering a similar reaction, and although this\nmay not always be applicable, it\u2019s best to wash plastic containers by hand\nrather than putting them in the dishwasher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some experts would go as far as\nsaying that no hot or cooked food should be stored in plastic containers, but\nit should be safe to do this as long as it\u2019s cooled before being put into the\ncontainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which plastic\ncontainers are safe for food storage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1988, the Society of Plastics Industry (SPI) created\na system that made it easier to tell apart each type of plastic. You\u2019ll find\nthis on plastic materials as being a recycling symbol with a number in the\nmiddle. Not only does this help to indicate the difference between each\nmaterial and what they can and cannot be recycled with, but it also helps to\nidentify which are safe for storing food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this numbering system, plastics that are\nrecognised as being safer for food storage are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Often used for bottles of water, fizzy drinks and juice,\nPET is known as being safe for reuse as long as it\u2019s thoroughly cleaned with\nhot water between uses. However, bottles and other products made from this type\nof plastic should be recycled when they become cracked or cloudy in appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A thicker type of plastic, HDPE is probably best known\nas being the material used for plastic milk jugs, but it\u2019s also been used for\nfood containers and other similar items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a thinner version of HDPE, LDPE is primarily used for\nkitchen materials like clingfilm, ketchup bottles and sandwich bags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polypropylene (PP)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Frequently used for plastic storage containers, PP is an\nideal material for food storage as it\u2019s safe, it doesn\u2019t leak and it can be\nrecycled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bio-plastics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Often regarded as being the \u2018other\u2019 category for plastics, bio-plastics include plastic utensils, cups and plates. They\u2019re created from resources that have a high starch content such as potatoes, corn and sugarcane, so products made from this type of plastic are easily compostable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whether you\u2019re transporting food in high quantities for an event or you\u2019re simply bringing food with you to work, it can be tempting to use a plastic container…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[56,55,57],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-articles","tag-is-it-safe-to-use-plastic-containers-for-food-storage","tag-plastic-containers-for-food-storage","tag-which-plastic-containers-are-safe-for-food-storage"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1089,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/1089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}