6 Foods You Should Never Store in Plastic, According to Experts

Cutting food waste is an excellent way to reduce your household’s environmental impact while stretching your grocery budget. One of the most effective ways is by storing food properly—but plastic, the material used in many storage containers and food packages, isn’t always the best choice.

Here are six foods that experts recommend never storing in plastic, along with alternatives and tips to help your groceries—and your food dollars—last longer.

1. Hot Foods

Using plastic food storage containers may be a convenient solution for meal prep or storing leftovers, but storing hot foods in plastic—or heating them in the microwave—isn’t the best idea. 

“When plastics are heated, such as when you reheat leftovers, they can break down and release substances like BPA [bisphenol A] or phthalates into your food,” says Nikki Kuhlmann, RD. These substances are known endocrine disruptors that may interfere with natural hormone function.

Instead, Kuhlmann recommends using stainless-steel or glass containers for storing and reheating hot meals. If you’re not ready to replace your entire storage container collection just yet, let foods cool completely before transferring them into plastic. You can also reserve plastic containers for cold or room-temperature foods like salads and sandwiches. 

2. Artisan Cheese

It’s OK to store everyday cheeses like Cheddar or cream cheese in plastic wrap or a reusable plastic tub, but fine cheeses need specific airflow and humidity to preserve their shelf life, flavor and texture. Wrapping artisan cheeses in clear plastic limits airflow, traps moisture and allows light to react with fats in the cheese, which can cause discoloration or plasticky flavors on cut surfaces.

Soft-ripened cheeses like Brie, washed-rind cheeses and other artisan varieties are best stored in cheese paper—a material made with a layer of coated paper on the outside and thin, perforated plastic or cellulose on the inside. Blue cheeses can also be stored in cheese paper or wrapped tightly in aluminum foil.

If you buy your cheese from a cut-to-order counter, it will likely already be wrapped in cheese paper. You can buy precut sheets of cheese paper for home use or mimic them by wrapping cheese in parchment paper and then loosely placing it in a plastic baggie in your fridge. 

3. Tomato Sauce and Other Acidic Foods

If you have a collection of plastic food storage containers in your kitchen, chances are at least a few are tinted orange from holding spaghetti Bolognese or tomato soup. In addition to leaving stubborn stains, tomato-based sauces may degrade plastic containers over time and cause the plastic to leach potentially harmful chemicals or microplastics. The same goes for other acidic products like vinaigrettes and citrus juices.

“I almost never store acidic foods in plastic,” says Megan Meyer, Ph.D. She recommends nonreactive materials like glass or stainless steel as an alternative. 

4. Onions and Garlic

There’s a reason that allium vegetables like onions, garlic and shallots are shipped and sold in mesh bags instead of sealed plastic. These root veggies are cured—or dried for several weeks—to extend their shelf life and protect them during transport from farm to store. Sealing them tightly in plastic traps moisture that can encourage spoilage and sprouting. 

To prevent mold, mushiness or other signs of spoilage, store onions and garlic in a cool, dark and dry place. Keep them in their mesh bag or transfer them to an open paper bag to allow proper airflow and minimize moisture buildup. 

5. Leafy Greens

Lettuce, spinach, kale and other greens are often sold in sealed plastic bags or clamshells, which are designed to keep them fresh until their sell-by date. However, once the package is opened, there’s a simple way to extend their freshness at home.

“Wrap leafy greens in a clean towel and store them in a sealed container to keep them fresh longer,” Kuhlmann says. This helps absorb excess moisture that can cause greens to wilt or spoil. You can either place a clean, dry paper towel or tea towel inside the original packaging or transfer the greens to a rigid container lined with toweling before loosely closing the lid. 

6. Fresh Herbs

If you’ve ever bought parsley or cilantro, used a few sprigs and forgotten about the rest, only to find a brown, slimy mess a week later, you know plastic produce bags aren’t ideal for storing fresh herbs.

Instead of tossing them in a bag in your crisper, treat herbs like fresh flowers and they’ll last for up to two weeks in your fridge. 

Fill a glass or jar halfway with water, trim about half an inch off the stems and place the herbs in the jar. Loosely cover the tops with the plastic bag they came in to prevent wilting, then store them in the refrigerator. Keeping the jar in the door of the fridge can help save space, stay organized and prevent spills. 

Other Tips for Storing Foods

To keep other foods fresh for as long as possible, here are some other practical storage tips:

• Inspect Your Produce. While shopping, check all produce carefully for bruising, wilting or other damage that could shorten shelf life. 
• Prep Ahead of Time. You can prepare leafy greens like lettuce and bunched spinach by washing them in cool water, then patting them dry or spinning them in a colander before storing. Having clean, ready-to-use greens makes it more likely that you’ll use them quickly. Just make sure that they’re fully dry, or they will spoil faster.
• Trim Your Veggies. Cut off the leafy tops of carrots, radishes, turnips and other root veggies just above the base of the stems. Leaving them on will cause them to lose moisture and crispness more quickly.
• Check Your Fridge Temperature. Make sure your fridge is set to the proper temperature. If it’s too cold, fresh vegetables may freeze. If it’s too warm, they can spoil more quickly. Meyer recommends keeping your fridge between 35°F and 40°F (1.7°C–4.4°C.)

Our Expert Take

Plastic works well for storing many foods, but it’s not always the best choice for reducing food waste. Produce like leafy greens, onions, garlic and fresh herbs require specific conditions to stay fresh that plastic alone can’t provide. Fine cheeses last longer when wrapped in cheese paper, while hot or acidic foods are best stored in glass or stainless steel. 

Other strategies for minimizing food waste include selecting high-quality, unblemished produce when shopping and keeping your refrigerator at the proper temperature to maintain freshness. These simple steps can help extend the shelf life of your food—and make your groceries go further.