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Bad taste from plastic bags

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:21 pm
by Wandering Daisy
I have been repacking my food in plastic bags for ages. The last few years I have noticed a distinct palstic flavor in food that remains unused for a month or more. Yesterday I munched on some leftover almonds from my last backpack trip and then some from the original package. The ones in the plastic bag were strongly plastic tasting. I swear that plastic bags have changed in the last two years. I never noticed this before. I am now using sandwich size zip locks instead of regular 1-gal size plastic bags - is this the problem? So what is the solution? Last year I thought I would be cleaver and lined the bags in waxed paper. It was a failure - the food did not pour out well and it still picked up the pastic taste. Do you think the brand matters? What have others done? I did read on the internet that if left in sun, plastic bags will gas-off chemicals. But I never left any of the backpack food in the sun.

Re: Bad taste from plastic bags

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:43 pm
by rlown
I do quart-sized freezer ziplock-brand bags; generally, i don't get the plastic taste, but then i don't store stuff in them for a long period of time. The monthlong storage might be your issue, depending on how you store it. I lay out what i'm taking the day before i leave, pack it in the smaller bags, and go, avoiding heat as much as possible. I prefer the quart-sized ziplocks because i can adjust them in the bear can more easily.

A month or more wouldn't be good to me, unless frozen or kept really cool. My M&M's are kind of the keystone marker if the repackaged food get's too warm.

Re: Bad taste from plastic bags

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 3:19 pm
by maverick
I also use the freezer zip lock bags and have never had a problem, plus all I have
to do is add boiling water to them, and eat right out of them with no dishwashing
needed afterwards.
As Rlown mentioned you should store them in a cool place, and if you want to store
freeze dried meals for loner periods than freeze them.