For bulk-food shopping, Life Without Plastic’s organic-cotton fabric bags were thoughtfully designed for the task. The bags have a flat, round bottom so they stay open while you fill them, and they’re sturdy enough that they won’t fall closed and get beans or flour all over everything while you do so. PEVA: Polyethylene vinyl acetate (PEVA), a common material in shower curtains, is a nontoxic version of PVC. PEVA is stiffer than silicone or disposable plastic bags. Like silicone, it’s relatively stain- and odor-resistant, too, but it’s harder to clean than silicone. PEVA can’t go in the dishwasher; it needs to be hand washed in soapy water.

PEVA? Is It Safe And What Is It In? - Essential Home What Is PEVA? Is It Safe And What Is It In? - Essential Home

Putting hot food in a silicone bag and popping it in the freezer means you’re basically putting an insulated bag in a cold area.While a number of the silicone bags did well, the PEVA bags we tested did a lot better on the whole.

Freezer Bags - 6 Pack | The Family Freezer Reusable Gallon Freezer Bags - 6 Pack | The Family Freezer

To clean your reusable freezer bag, fill it with hot water from the sink and leave it to soak in for sixty seconds. This helps it dislodge food scraps. Pour out the water and put in some warm water and some dish soap before scrubbing inside with a sponge or cloth. Since reusable silicone and PEVA bags are best cleaned by hand, there’s human error involved—failing to clean those grooves could result in bacterial growth that’s passed by your usual cleaning regimen. Staining: To see if the bags would become stained from food, I stored greasy, tomatoey Bolognese sauce in them for 24 hours. I then microwaved the sauce right in the bags before emptying them and cleaning them in the dishwasher. The main reason why it is impossible to make a definitive statement on this question is that many of the chemicals are contained in this petrochemical product are yet to be properly tested for adverse affects to human health.

The Best Reusable Bag Overall: Stasher Bags

If you use something that’s too abrasive, you could leave grooves and divots on the interior, which are going to get filled in with food particles. This is important to note because while the thought of as a better option, research has also found that “PEVA plastic has adverse effects on living organisms, and therefore it is not a safe alternative to PVC.” According to the FDA, PEVA bags are safe for food storage. In fact, this material is food-grade waterproof, lightweight, and reusable. It also works well in both cold and room temperature environments. You should exclusively hand wash these bags and towel dry them immediately to prevent any warping or damage to the bags. So while little is known about ethylene vinyl acetate toxicity, from the evidence available it does look like PEVA is a less harmful material than PVC.