Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Living Well with the Carrie Connection

Today's foods come in a variety of packaging materials ranging from cans and bottles to plastic tubs, pouches, bags and wraps. Some of these materials are designed so the food can be heated in the package. Others are made so that part of the food can be used and then the container resealed to keep the food fresh until the consumer is ready for the remainder.

Packaging plays a variety of roles with foods. Most importantly, it protects the food from exposure and damage during distribution. In addition, it provides a means of offering consumers nutrition and ingredient information, cooking instructions, product weight, advertising, brand identification and pricing.

Most packaging materials are designed for one use. With the exceptions of glass containers requiring user deposit and limited-use polycarbonate bottles, manufacturers assume that consumers will take the product home, then discard or recycle the packaging.

However, as today's consumers have become more environmentally aware, they have begun to question the wisdom of discarding the massive amounts of food packaging they get each year. As a result many consumers are attempting to find alternative uses for these materials rather than to simply discard them.

The Food and Drug Administration assesses the initial safety of packaging materials for food contact. However, reuse of packaging materials has been studied much less. The following recommendations, developed by Susan Brewer of the Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, might prove useful when deciding when and/or how packaging materials should be reused.

Packages from products other than food should never be used as food containers. They have not been tested for safety with food systems and they may contain small amounts of non-food residues. For example, do not use plastic laundry detergent buckets for storing dry cereal.

Glass can be reused for all foods and for all processes, regardless of what food was originally packaged in the glass container. The exception to this rule is that one-trip glass jars should not be used for pressure processing in the home canner. Reuse of the lid or cover, however, is subject to the consideration discussed in the following recommendations.

Reuse packaging materials only with foods similar in acidity and in sugar and fat content to the food originally packaged in the material. For example, do not use a plastic shortening container to make salad dressing containing a substantial amount of vinegar.

Reuse packaging materials only with foods that will be exposed to the same types of processes. For example, do not melt butter in the microwave oven using a plastic margarine container. In general do not subject food packages to heat unless the instructions on the original package give heating information. Many food products are hot-filled into containers at low temperatures and the packages will not tolerate heating.

Do not reuse porous packaging materials, such as paper, paperboard and expanded foams (for example, Styrofoam cups and foam meat trays). They have air spaces that will harbor food particles and microorganisms.

Do not reuse microwave packages that contain heat susceptors for browning or crisping. The adhesives that hold the susceptor to the package may be damaged by the original use so that the material is more likely to migrate into the food if it is used again.

If you store foods with strong odors or flavors in reused food packages, the packaging material may become permeated with the odor or flavored chemicals. Some packaging materials allow these chemicals to pass through, and the odors or flavors are transferred to other foods stored in the same area. Other materials accumulate the odor/flavor molecules in the polymeric packaging and then release them into a subsequently stored product.

One of the most basic rules of food safety applies to reusing packaging materials as well as to the foods themselves is: When in doubt, throw it out.

For more information on safe handling of food call the Nevada County Cooperative Extension Service office at 887-2818.