Do coated plastic bags really help produce last longer?

By Ethel Tiersky

Jan 25, 2011

Coated bags (such as the Debbie Meyer Green Bags) can work, depending upon the produce being put into it, explains food scientist Dr. Karin Allen. “These bags have a clay-like material deposited on them which causes them to absorb ethylene gas. “Whether the bag will work or not depends upon two factors: 1) how much ethylene the produce gives off; and 2) whether the product is responsive to ethylene or not. If one or both of these conditions is true, then putting it in one of these bags should extend the shelf life (for example, of apples, bananas, and tomatoes). These bags are a little help for cabbage because, although it gives off very little ethylene, it is sensitive to it. For strawberries, the bags provide no benefit.” Allen says that her experience with bananas has been that if each one is wrapped separately, the coated bags work better. She points out that, since apples are cheap and last a long time, the expense of the bag may not be worth it.

Source(s):

Karin E. Allen, Ph.D., Utah State University, Dept. of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences

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