Glass vs. plastics bottles & jars

Supermarket shelves have both in abundance.

I would have thought one or other would have an overall advantage and led to the demise of its rival.

What factors are at work here?

Reply to
Graham.
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All right, I'll bite.

Glass is needed if the product is poured hot into the jar and then allowed to cool, eg jam.

But, you can get mayonnaise in both glass and plastic jars/squeezy bottles. Is that a cold pour, then?

Reply to
GB

I personally feel milk tastes wrong in plastic bottles and also seems to go off if left in, say a porch quicker in plastic as glass holds cold better so to speak. I also wonder why soup comes in cans. After all you pour it out to use it. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

Soup is cooked at 130degC or more after being sealed in the can.

Reply to
harry

Neither is best for all products. Some of the things that are taken into account are:

Permeability: PET is permeable to oxygen. Glass is not. That is why expensive salad and cooking oils come in glass bottles. Only cheaper oils, which it is assumed will not be stored for extended periods, come in plastic bottles.

Strength and weight: Glass is heavy. Glass capable of withstanding pressure is particularly heavy. Heavy products require more fuel to move about and may limit the quantity that can be carried in one vehicle. Hence, many fizzy drinks come in PET bottles.

Shipping volume: Plastic bottles are thinner, so the same quantity of product can be packed into a smaller space, or more product can be packed into the same space. Smaller shipping volumes mean fewer lorries are needed to move the huge amount of products travelling on our roads every day.

Safety: Glass is brittle and is more likely to break if dropped. Plastic is safer and suffers less loss due to accidental damage.

Image: Glass is seen by consumers as more up-market or more traditional, so premium products and products trying to present a traditional image are normally presented in glass bottles, rather than in plastic.

Reply to
Nightjar

It's interesting that PET is permeable to oxygen, but not CO2.

Reply to
GB

More specifically, it's boiled in the jars before the lids seal, to generate the sterile sealed environment (and the vacuum).

It may still be pasturised after bottling, but not at such a high temperature.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

The canning process sterilises things. So they have a nearly indefinite life.

Fresh soup usually comes in a container like other fresh liquids. Kept chilled before sale.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

It is permeable to both, but CO2 loss is a slower process, so it does not really matter for most fizzy drinks.

Reply to
Nightjar

You can buy jam in a plastic squeezy bottle these days.

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Reply to
Ash Burton

That will require either extra preservatives, or a high sugar content (lower fruit content) to act as a preservative (or both). That would also make it cheaper to manufacture, and most people would regard it as an inferior product due to lower fruit content/taste.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Rubbish. Fresh soup comes from a pan on SWMBO's hob.

Reply to
Graham.

We will be getting free electricity soon with British Gas every Saturday 0900-1700. Free saunas, washing machines and batch cooking a gogo.

Reply to
Simon Mason

That's what she tells you.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Rubbish. Fresh soup comes from a pan on MY hob.

Yes, I have made the warmandwetware not just claiming the hardware.

(It is d-i-y, after all.)

Reply to
polygonum

you don't use heat to make mayonnaise, it's just a cold mix emulsion.

Reply to
rick

I do find it strange that I can only buy Carrot juice in heavy glass bottles, when all other juices are in Terra packs or plastic bottles .... so marketing must play in this as well ... perceived value maybe?

Reply to
rick

yet still put on a use by date ?

Reply to
rick

Exactly. I think Aldi do carrot juice cartons.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

It's a best before date on cans. Which in 99% of cases is meaningless. Sponge and milks are the only things I'm aware of that suffer over time in cans, sponge slowly collapses, milk fat settles.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

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