Do you know that around 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year, which amounts for third of the food that is produced? Researchers and food scientists are trying out ways to ensure less of that food are wasted and much of it can be used. The primary and the most obvious step would be storing food properly by using adequate methods and suitable types of equipment.
Not only it is important to stop the food from being wasted but storing your food properly is very essential. It can protect yourself from harmful bacteria and microorganisms, which can cause food poisoning and other severe diseases. If you don’t store the food properly by keeping it in containers or refrigerating it, the bacteria will grow rapidly which leads to food spoilage.
The best container to store food is an airtight food canister which keeps food from drying out and keeps it fresh and original for quite some time. There are various types of food canisters which claim to be airtight but you got to make a smart choice. For the material of food canister, there is always been a controversial question: acrylic or glass?
Here are 10 factors which will help you in choosing between acrylic or glass food canister.
1) Health – Draw
Glass canisters are believed to be better for health as they keep the food safe from harmful plasticizers such as BPA and phthalates. But not many consumers know about the BPA-free acrylic canisters that also protect food the same way. As long as you don’t use the BPA-free acrylic food canisters to microwave the food (which is not recommended), they are as safe as glass canisters.
Acrylic canisters are good to store flours, noodles, cookies, and similar food items. Although food canisters made of acrylic can be heat-resistant up to 95 Celsius, they are not advised to be used for microwave usage or dishwasher as the heat can be extreme.
2) Shatterproof – Acrylic
Food canisters made of glass material are easily broken if dropped accidentally. The kids are often seen dropping items made of glass which when shattered can create a mess and can also hurt them. Hence, it is an important thing to consider when you are looking to buy a new food canister.
The shock resistance of acrylic is 200 times greater than glass which makes it very hard to get shattered if it falls. The fact that acrylic is a plexiglass and is a material with high impact strength, durability, and applicability. Acrylic is often used in deep sea submarine windows for its unique features and qualities.
3) Scratch-resistant – Glass
Plastic is the material with very less resistance to scratching. Even though acrylic performs better than normal plastic, when it comes to scratch-resistant, the winner is glass.
It’s really annoying when your food container gets scratches on it that makes it look displeasing. When compared to glass, acrylic is more prone to getting scratched. Not that glass food canisters do not get scratches, but they are resistant to scratching more than acrylic food canisters.
The light scratches on acrylic canisters can be cleaned or rubbed off easily by using 800 grit soaking sandpaper. It is a good and quick method to remove scratches from food containers which do not require anything other than ordinary materials.
4) Durability – Draw
When it comes to durability, there is no competition as both acrylic and glass food canisters are durable and last for a long time. The durability of acrylic material can be witnessed easily as it is used in plane windows, making of greenhouses, skylights and storefront windows. Most of the surveillance mirrors and windows are made of acrylic.
The material of glass is durable for centuries. Its durability can be seen in ancient churches in most cities. It remains intact and sound unless broken due to extreme pressure. Hence, you can opt for any of these two choices if durability is your main concern.
5) Convenience – Acrylic
When you are out there choosing the best food canister, weight must be one of your concerns. A food canister lesser in weight could be easier to handle for you and your kids too. The density of acrylic can range from 1150-1190 kg/m³ while the density of glass ranges from 2400 to 2800 kg/m³ which means acrylic weighs less than half of glass.
It is preferred to buy acrylic canisters because of their less weight as they can be handled easily. Their transportation is also easy and cheap. You know what coanister to get if you don’t want your kids to cause a mess.
6) Light Transmission – Acrylic
Although both glass and acrylic containers are transparent, acrylic transmits more light than glass does. When an average glass quality transmits around 80-90% of the light, the acrylic material can transmit 92% of visible light.
One might wonder why this quality is important? Well, it is really important because acrylic helps you spot the food contained in the canister while glass can make it a little difficult sometimes. Especially if you are in a dark environment, nothing works better than acrylic containers. While the difference is not great but acrylic leads the comparison here hence, we will not advise you to go for glass containers.
7) Saving Space – Acrylic
No one can deny the fact that kitchen storage is always at the premium. It gets hard to prioritize the stuff and deciding where to keep certain items. If you have a small kitchen, the lack of space can easily frustrate you. But, a small space doesn’t always mean having difficulty in fitting things in. Acrylic canisters here are the solution.
The best way to secure space in your kitchen would be to stack your food containers above one another to make up space for other items. Sounds great, right? Well, glass canisters can’t allow you to put this technique in implementation. You can easily pile up acrylic containers one on other, keeping the contents safe and avoiding any mess even after dropping.
8) Moldable – Acrylic
Acrylic material is easily molded when heated to 100 degrees and can be turned into a canister of any shape that can be imagined. This thus gives the flexibility of further various canister design. On the other side, it is very difficult for the glass to be molded into any desired shape due to it being relatively rigid and brittle.
Unlike acrylic food canisters, when the glass is curved, it can bend the light which leads to the contents of the canister looking bigger or smaller than they actually are. This causes misjudging of the items contained in the canister. Acrylic wins the battle here as well for being moldable and not misleading you about the contents of canisters.
9) Environmental-friendly – Glass
Acrylic although being a glass-like material is one of the types of plastics. The production and consumption of plastic have led to various kinds of pollution on our planet. Modern scientists have recommended a minimum usage of plastics because of the threat posed by their consumption. On the other hand, glass containers are recyclable and do not cause any such pollution on the planet.
The supporters of acrylic material believe that products made of acrylic have replaced the consumption of wood, iron and other natural raw materials. The debate could go on but the glass is clearly better than acrylic when it comes to an environment-friendly option.
10) Cost – Draw
Every one of us looks for saving a few bucks on some of the items we have to purchase and this is where acrylic canisters can help you out. For glass material, because of the production process which includes the reheating and melting of glass, it costs much more than acrylic containers.
Acrylic products are cheaper because of the lower shipping costs owing to their less weight. But, the fact is that although acrylic might be cheap for its initial cost, it would cost more than glass because of its threat to the environment.
The Winner – Acrylic Food Canister
After considering the above mentioned ten factors, we recommend you to prefer acrylic food canisters over glass food canisters. As they are more convenient, shatterproof, space-saving and moldable, they are a better option to keep and store dry food or cold food. Glass food canisters can be a better choice if you use it to microwave the food.
No matter what you choose, make sure of these two factors:
- The material should be BPA-free for health consideration.
- The canister needs to be airtight that will help the contents to last longer and stay fresh while in storage.
If you want to know more about how to store and organize essentials to keep your kitchen efficient, you may want to read this incredible blog guide on kitchen handling.
