Glass is the best food container. Leaves no residue or chemicals, easily recyclable, and even in a landfill it just turns into sand.
Fun fact: the darker the glass is, the less energy it takes to produce and recycle because the additives that make it darker reduce the glass’s melting point significantly. Dark coloured glass is also preferred for beverage storage and preservation as they block sunlight, which is why the more expensive wines almost always come in dark glass bottles. Only issue is dark bottles don’t let you see inside, which consumers don’t tend to like, and a clear glass bottle is more likely to draw attention on the shelf.
Also requires 100x thicker walls for the same integrity as plastic, meaning the same volume container weighs much more and requires more fossil fuel to transport. Glass makes sense for reusable containers in local economies, but in the case of global distribution, glass puts much more CO2 in the atmosphere than plastic.
Which is actually critical because aluminium compounds are also neurotoxic similar to lead. There are advisories against especially cooking acidic foods in aluminium cookware because the acid, especially if heated, can easily break through the oxide layer and react with the aluminium, forming soluble compounds that are easily absorbed when eaten. And soda is quite acidic so I imagine without the plastic film they’ll all turn into poison within a few weeks (I mean, more poisonous I guess).
Honestly we’re starting to realize that aluminium is the lead of the modern age. Not to nearly the same extent as lead obviously, but the mechanisms for how they harm people are similar. Not saying we go as far as to ban aluminium, but we need to be smart about how and where it’s used (i.e. should ideally be avoided for food packaging or preparation) and seek out better alternatives when aluminium doesn’t work well for an application.
That’s bad.
Are tin/steel cans (for food rather than drink) also tainted?
