How do I know if I have the right type of MylarFoil™ bags?

Food Storage tips: Knowing which Mylar bag is right for you

This is an extremely good question. The Mylar® foil bags that are used for long-term food storage, they were originally designed for exporting Macadamia nuts in bulk. This bag is 4.5 mils thick and appears to look like aluminum foil. Although the Mylar® foil layer is transparent, long-term food storage bags are NEVER transparent. Another type of Mylar® Foil with which many consumers are familiar is the "Mylar® Foil balloon" that is often sold at supermarkets for birthdays and other occasions. The industrial name for the Mylar® Foil balloon material is metalized polyester. This is product mostly cosmetic and has minimal oxygen barrier properties.

Any concerned individual should be very wary of an organization trying to promote "transparent" barrier bags or the shiny metalized polyester material as a food storage bag. Long-term food storage should never be one of them and as a consumer you have the right to a fraud claim if you have received such information.(One good example to watch for is the US Military MRE products. The packaging material used to produce the MREs has a very high oxygen barrier. Often they will specify nylon as the outside layer of the material instead of polyester (Mylar® foil) due to its stronger puncture resistance and oxygen barrier properties.) Most of all you will never see a simple Mylar® Foil (transparent) structure or shiny Mylar® Foil (metalized polyester) structure used for an MRE.

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