Yes. I had gone shopping at Ikea, and this was what causing my shoulders to rip out of their sockets and spurred my reminiscences about the dreaded flexed arm hang. :)
I was carrying stacks of wine glasses for my in-laws anniversary party, along with a bunch of other stuff including these incredibly adorable and fun night-lights. But that’s IKEA for you, isn’t it? Walk in for one thing and come out with stuff you never knew you needed.
Anyway, I had had an epiphany of sorts, over there in the Ikea kitchen department. I suddenly decided to ditch all my plastic food storage containers and replace them with glass ones. I hate my plastic food storage containers. I have a shelf full of them and I don’t even use all of them. I hate them, haaaaaaate them. They are stained, scratched, missing tops and missing bottoms and some are just plain missing. I never put them in the microwave, but we do put them in the dishwater and I have often wondered if the heat of the dishwasher has warped them somehow. [check out this PDF-format “Smart Plastics Guide .”] Are tiny plastic bits getting into our food? Plastic molecules wreaking havoc in our bodies? Some say yes. Others say no.
Is there a difference between those dollar store containers and the name brand ones I bought at the big name grocery store? They’re both probably made overseas (in China, which has suddenly become a dirty word). Should I trust it? Should I trust the people who designed it and manufactured it, those who were responsible for the blue dye in the lids, and should I trust the people who were on that assembly line and those who were involved in shipping and purchasing too? That’s a lot of people to trust.
I thought that leaching only occured when a plastic container is heated in the microwave. Turns out I’m wrong. This, from that PDF I mentioned above:
“Leaching increases when plastic comes in contact with oily or fatty foods, during heating and from old or scratched plastic. Types of plastics shown to leach toxic chemicals are polycarbonate, PVC and styrene. This does not imply that other plastics are entirely safe. These plastics have just been studied more.”
Gives one pause to think, does it not?
I stood in that kitchen section for awhile thinking about all this stuff. I discovered that Ikea has a series of great looking glass storage containers in their 365+ line. I bought the last two of the smaller size, and one was from a high display shelf.
They are a great size, with a silicone seal, and, as a bonus, are totally stackable. Although they aren’t ovenproof, they are safe to take from the fridge to the microwave, and the container can go in the dishwasher afterwards. Pretty convenient huh? So I’ve taken out all of our plastic food storage containers (minus the ones I use for the girls lunches … that’s next) and put them on a shelf in the basement. I need to keep a couple of the very large ones, but I think I’m ready to pitch the others.
Our cupboard looks pretty bare right now. I am thinking of going back to Ikea and buying a few more of the larger size. Question is, how many food storage containers does an average family of four really need? What do you think of the plastic & food storage issue?
