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The technique of storing food in some jar or container is not new. Humans have been using this technique of storage since ancient times. People who lived in Egypt long before our time, used to store food in glass containers. But making bottles was still a challenge as the structure of a bottle is quite sophisticated when compared to a simple glass jar or container.
This problem was solved in 1900, when there the first machine for manufacturing bottles in mass was created. Along with this, the production of bottled and jarred packaged goods increased by a large margin. Today we find a large number of bottled and jarred packaged goods in the market. This kind of packaging has its various types along with pros and cons. The next sections of this article explore them briefly.
Pros and Cons of bottled and jarred packaging/ what are the advantages of bottled and jarred packaged goods?
Bottled and jarred packages goods have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. We’ve discussed them briefly below:
Pros:
- The packaging is transparent: the most distinguishing factor about the glass jars is that they offer the transparency. You can easily see the contents stored inside the glass jars and determine some level of freshness just by looking at the product.
- An environment friendly alternative: The glass is completely recyclable and is said to be eco-friendly. The glass containers can also be reused over and over. These do not do any harm to the environment and offer you a better eco-friendly alternative when compared to other kinds of packaging.
The glass containers with air-tight lids are usually believed to be the best for food packaging. Many companies these days pack food in such air-tight containers to keep the freshness of the food item intact.
- Offers you hygienic storage: Hygiene is the most looked after factor when we talk about food packaging. Glass containers and bottles offer the best hygiene when compared to other kinds of packaging.
As glass do not contain any kind of metal, so this eliminates any risk of oxidation too. Glass containers and jars also do not produce any kind of harmful radiations. Glass containers are much more hygienic and neat when compared to steel or aluminum containers.
- Food can be stored for long: the bottled and jarred packaged goods also offer you the benefit of long term storage. You can also use the contents as per your requirements and store the rest of it in bottles or jars for future use. This saves the product from wastage and the contents can be used by future generations too.
This option allows you to preserve the contents for long in low cost.
- Easy to use and convenient: the bottled and jarred packaged goods are easy to use as you just have to open the container, withdraw the contents and then store the rest of it for future use.
It’s also convenient to carry these. You can easily handle them to the other person.
- A cost-effective alternative: Bottled and jarred packaged goods can be used for long periods of time and thus are a cost effective alternative.
These are also easy to pack as you just have to put the contents inside the container and close the lid. Companies also put up a seal as a mark of freshness and to tell the buyer that product inside has not been used previously.
Bottled and jarred packaging is also readily available. A glass jar packaging will also last longer than a cardboard packaging and will be able to bear more temperature and weather changes.
- Storage and transportation: Bottled and jarred packaged goods are easy to store as you can stack them up in any corner of your room.
These are easy to transport as well. Jars or bottles can be stacked together inside a huge box and can be transported easily. This way, multiple jars or bottles are transported in a single journey.
- Freshness for long: Air-tight bottles or jars are the nest option for keeping food items fresh for long. Juices or drinks that come packed in bottles remain fresh for longer when compared to those in cans or tetra-packs.
Jarred foods also offer you the option of ready-to-eat recipe. Just pour down the contents of the jar in a bowl or a pan and heat it for eating. You don’t have to worry about the freshness.
Cons:
- Glass is a fragile material: when it comes to handling, glass is a very much fragile material. Any kind of negligence shown in handling the jars made up of glass can result in wastage of whole amount of food that is stored inside it.
Thus the containers made up of glass require extensive care while handling them.
- Not that cost effective: In the pros section of bottled and jarred packaged goods, we saw that how food stored inside these containers can be used for long and how these containers are reusable as well as recyclable. All these factors endorsed that glass containers are cost effective.
But for one time, these are expensive. Glass is a brittle material and generally expensive to afford. If we compare this kind of packaging with other packaging, the price for glass based container can be very high.
Types of bottled and jarred packaged goods
- Wooden Packaging
Generally, fruits and vegetables come inside this kind of packaging. Wooden packaging is known to keep the flavor and quality of the products stored inside it to be fresh and good.
The cons of wooden packaging are that for wood, trees will be cut down and this will harm the environment. Also wooden packaging requires a lot of space when compared to other types of packaging.
- Glass Containers
Glass containers offer you the advantage of being air-tight. Also, glass does not contain any metal so there is zero risk of corrosion which increases the life of these containers. Glass containers are also reusable as well as easily recyclable. Beer, jam, pickles are some examples where glass packaging is used to store them.
On the disadvantageous side, glass containers are too much fragile. Any kind of mishandling will break them. Also, glass is an expensive material so this increases their cost too.
- Plastic Bottles
Plastic bottles are the most common type of packaging method used in bottled and jarred packaged goods. Plastic also has grater elasticity than glass and can be molded to form any shape. Plastic containers are also light weight and do not break that easily upon falling.
The plastic is not heat resistant thus it absorbs the smell and taste of the food. Generally we see cold-drinks, sweets stored in plastic containers.
Plastic is not an environment friendly material and is also not easy to recycle. Once recycled, it is not available for human consumption.
- Metal Containers
These are well known in food industry as these are mostly used for the storage of food. These usually are made up of zinc-plated steel that is cost effective and prevents corrosion. These are also a strong and reliable alternative.
The aluminum packaging is light and durable. These are recyclable too and have a long shelf life. Also, aluminum is an anti-corrosive material, means it does not corrode.
Which one to prefer? Glass jars or plastic bottles?
As we saw that bottled and jarred packaged goods have their own set of pros and cons. Some people prefer packaging in glass jars while some prefer packaging in plastic bottles.
Plastic bottles are mainly used when there is some liquid material to store. Also, these do not work with hot liquids as plastic will melt down as soon as you pour hot liquid in it.
Moreover, plastic bottles are light weight and are more flexible than the glass. They can be formed into any shape of choice.
Glass jars on the other hand can be used for a wide range of food products as well as for liquids. Glass jars are heavy in comparison to plastic bottles and glass is an expensive material too. Thus every material has its own rights and wrongs and in the final it comes down to on what factors you mainly focus upon while choosing the kind of packaging.
- Better recyclable
The jarred foods that are packed inside the glass jars have certain advantage over the food packed inside the plastic bottles. The glass jars are easier to recycle with caps; such is not the case with the plastic bottles. The caps of the plastic bottles are not recyclable.
This clearly shows that jarred food industry is much more close to environment, or we can say environment friendly when compared to bottled food industry. The jarred food can also be recycled with lids and the contents, while this cannot be done with the bottled foods. From the aspect of recycling and being environment friendly, glass jars offer a better option.
- Stays with you for long
Any kind of packaged food, be it bottled or jarred, offers consumers long time freshness guarantee. Usually, customers look for long time storage.
- From industry to your homes
Nowadays, not only the industries are using bottles and jars for packing up processed food but these are being used in home kitchens too. Many people use bottles and jars to store something they prepare and they want its freshness to remain intact for long. This way, they also support the process of reuse of these materials which benefits the environment.
When to purchase and when to not!
Most of the people these days now trust in the bottled and jarred packaged goods. They tend to think that the contents inside of it will remain fresh for long and their quality will not degrade. This is correct in most of the cases but one should be cautious before buying bottled and jarred goods.
There have been cases where customers found out defects in plastic jar packaging or glass jar packaging box. Due to such cases, several health officials and companies issued guidelines related to the ‘seal of freshness’ of these packaging.
The companies now place a seal on such packaging which mostly says ‘do not buy if the seal is broken’. This seal is a mark of freshness and tells the consumer that the container has not been opened after it was packed in the industry. Some containers also say that ‘do not buy if the lid makes a sound’. This is also a mark of freshness and tells the consumers that the lid has not been opened after packing.
As the products inside these packaging are in high demand, one should know when to buy bottled and jarred packaged goods and when to not.
Conclusion
This article is about the ever growing industry of bottled and jarred packaged goods. It throws light upon certain aspects related to this industry of packaging.
In this article, we discuss with you what are the pros and cons of bottled and jarred foods and what are the different kind of packaging available. Also, we then briefly analyze the advantages and disadvantages of glass jars and plastic bottles. The things that you should keep in mind before buying packaged food and information about ‘seal of freshness’ is also discussed.
Bottled and jarred packaged goods are used in almost every home and it becomes very important for everyone to have information about them. Keep following us for more such informative articles.
Related topic- Bagged Packaged Goods
Frequently Asked Questions
Jar packaging means to seal pack some product or food material in a jar. The material of the jar can be either plastic or glass. This is done to keep the freshness of the item intact for long.
The major difference between a jar and a bottle is the type of opening they have. Jars have wide circular opening such as you might have seen in pickle, jam and other jars. Bottles have a narrow opening such as present in soft drink bottles.
Yes, when a seal is applied on the lid of the jar with some content inside it like food or some beverage, then the jar becomes a packaging. Jam, beers, pickles, cold drinks are some materials which come inside jar packaging.
Glass jars provide a lot of advantages compared to any material for packaging. They provide sanity to the material stored inside it. Glass jars are best for keeping the purity, quality and the freshness of the contents stored intact.
The contents are stored inside a jar of glass which is then sealed with the type of closure suitable for the material which is being packed.