As such, Ziploc bags are alleged to be “fundamentally unfit for microwave and freezer use” despite their labeling, which has been “leading consumers to believe they are fit to be microwaved and frozen without risk of microplastics leaching into their food.” Consumers may have “unwittingly exposed themselves and their families to undisclosed microplastics during routine kitchen practices,” per the filing.
As the Ziploc lawsuit asserts, even consumers doing their best to avoid exposure to microplastics can be lulled into a “false sense of security” by purportedly misleading labels.
Who would microwave a ziplock bag? Freezer, sure, but microwave?
unfit for microwave and freezer use
I’m giving up at this point. I truly believe we’re in the fuck you and everything you love timeline
Maybe i died two years ago and this is just purgatory. Would you guys tell me if i died two years ago?
I know it’s tough. Apparently I was ahead of the curve of most people and hit where you are at over a decade ago — with everybody around me and online calling me paranoid for thinking corporations/et. al are making people sick through their greed and apathy.
Corporations surely have known this stuff is harmful for a long time – but all they care about is selling a viable, cheap, scalable product, and marketing it to the masses to achieve wild success.
It gets better, I promise. Glass is my personal answer to plastic.
Control what you can, don’t spiral into hopelessness, and advocate for real regulation and higher standards for corporations — so they can’t simply go to market with harmful or toxic products.
Ah shit. Im in purgatory arnt i
Reality and your experience is what you make it. If you ever need a chat, I’m here.
Thanks man. I’m ok. Just joking around. Appreciate the kindness though!
I would absolutely tell you if you were in purgatory.
And as I said to a friend who thought he was dead while tripping on acid, “If you were in purgatory, there is no way you’d think me up, because I’m way too delightful to be in someone else’s purgatory.”
You’re a good friend
No, we still need your labour and the line must go up.
Yea. Of course… Line. Must. Go. Up.
The line. Must.go.up. The line. Must. Go up. Up. Up. Up. Up.And show some hustle out there, Sisyphus.
I can’t decide if “you died two years ago and this is all purgatory” would be good or bad news at this point.
Shit. This means I’m still alive.
Or maybe you’ve been in purgatory since you were born?
That’d be a crazy childhood
Pull it from the freezer and thaw it in the microwave
/s
Definitely not me heating up corn tortillas
Wrap them in a damp paper towel instead when you microwave them.
Before I read this, I wasn’t aware of any reason not too. If I put meat in a bag to freeze it, I’d put the entire bag in the microwave if I needed to thaw it quickly.
Go to the frozen vegetables at your grocery store and tell me what all of the “steam fresh” bags are made of.
Tips on containers that won’t splode in the freezer with soups, sauces, etc?
Stainless steel steam table pans. The stuff they use in professionial kitchens. They come in standard sizes, can be frozen, heated in the oven, stovetop, and some on induction cooktops. They are often used with stainless steel lids but they also make stretchy silicone lids that are good for freezing
Ugghh I use them in the freezer constantly. Good to know.
Me too. I never used them (or anything made from plastic) for cooking, but I do freeze stuff in them, dammit!
Gah! Me, too!
I really wish we lived in a world where the people responsible for this would be destroyed!
At this point we need to force every plastic producing and utilizing company to pay into a national healthcare fund to pay for all of the cancers and other problems they have caused for people.
…and stop producing more plastic.
Now imagine my lack of shock when we find out sous vide leeches chemicals like a MF at some point. You can’t cook food in plastic. It’s a hill I’m willing to die on.
It depends on the plastic. “Plastic” is broad category of materials, not just one singular thing.
But in most cases where plastic would be used, there are far better options. For sous vide, for example, reusable silicone pouches work great with no risk of microplastics or dangerous chemicals like BPA.
Yeah, I don’t care if the plastic bowl says microwave safe on it. I will not put anything that isn’t sourced from rocks or plants in the microwave.
In the strictest possible sense, plastic is ultimately sourced from rocks…
Guess I shoulda said made of
I really want to organize a plastic boycott.
Does anyone know how the Target / Amazon boycotts were distributed?It seems those had a good turnout.
Wait until you realize how much plastic is being used in manufacturing. You know that meme where a product gets shipped across the world 5 times before finally being assembled? About 4 layers of plastic are spun around the parts every time it happens.
Hey, do you have a source on this? Super interesting!
I used to work in a cookie factory and we wrapped every single pallet in a fuck ton of plastic wrap, so at least in my experience the claim makes sense
I avoid plastic where I can but its often impossible unless you want a severely limited diet. Most vegetables come in plastic packaging of some form. Rice and pasta too, although flour and oats come in paper so at least i could have sourdough bread and porridge with some jam from a glass jar.
“As the suit explains, microplastics are “small plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter,” a byproduct of larger plastic items breaking down.”
I feel like they mean smaller than 5mm. 5mm is like a 1/4 of an inch round… thats not “micro” thats just plastics.
I feel like they mean smaller than 5mm.
I believe you meant “nm”, as in “nanometre”.
Just a typo, I can’t see from context.
Slightly ironic tho
No, thats a direct quote from the article. I know they meant nm.
Who the hell microwaves ziplocs?
PYREX FTW
I’ve been trying to convince people for years to just switch to jars. They last longer, glass doesn’t poison your blood, you can store dinner leftovers in a jar and bring it to work for lunch really easily, they make good cups, you can ferment stuff, they’re good for storing other things like maybe rubber bands or paper clips. I still use plastic bags sometimes for freezing bulk proteins (need to find a new solution for that I guess) but for nearly everything jars are just better
I like jars but they’re just nowhere near as space efficient. This is hell.
Excellent call on the jars! Would something like butcher paper work for freezing? Or is that plastic-y too…
Checks
Looks like it’s just paper! Potential bleaches and waxes, but found rolls without fairly easily. My dad froze most of his venison in butcher paper and it always came out excellent.
Oh damn butcher paper is a great idea! I’ll have to grab some then I think that’ll cover all my food related plastic bags uses
How well does heating up leftovers in jars work? Or do you take it out of the jar then heat it up? Thanks!
It depends on the food but I usually heat it up in the jar (without the metal lid of course). Dense thick stuff like refried beans can be tricky if you filled the jar to the top because it’s hard to stir for even heating. For the most part just be conscious of the room you have to move stuff around and it’s all good though. Obviously some stuff won’t work well like pizza unless you wanted to roll it up like a taquito. I’ve done soups, rice, hot dogs, stir fry, corn, various pastas, curry, oatmeal, potatoes, you name it. Lots of things that don’t microwave well normally are still just as okay in a jar such as steak bites, bread, fries, cream sauce, rangoons, or neatly stacked sliders
But I thought corporations and regulators always have our best interests in mind?
Hell yeah, fuck them up.
There needs to be a reckoning here.
