Has anyone tried green bags for produce?
By Sharon Trent from Bellingham, WA
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Consumer Report tested the green bags a few months ago. From there testing the results were forget about the green bags. Regular bags worked better than green bags except for bananas,they appeared to stay fresh longer.
This brings up another question: do you find Consumer Reports to be helpful? I've found their research to be too narrow to be useful to me, in that they test a narrow range of appliance models, non-national brands, and priorities which may not be mine.
Debbie Meyer Green Bags: Does it Work?
By: Lauren Keith
The Debbie Meyer Green Bags are one of the most highly requested items I've received from Heartland News viewers this year. The specially-designed bags promise to keep produce fresh for up to 30 days.
"If it does work, that'd be great. I'd be very excited to keep my fruits and veggies for more than a week," says Kelley Snider.
Kelley Snider is one of dozens of Heartland News viewers who emailed asking me to try the new Debbie Meyer Green Bags.
These bags supposedly remove ethylene gas that apparently causes fruits and vegetables to rot. At first glance, it looks like a regular ole' plastic bag to me, but I hope it works!
"The vegetables and fruit need to be dry when going in to the bags," reads Kelley.
That's one of very few instructions given. Also, you can't use twisty ties to secure the bags, and you can't mix and match. In other words, don't put the peppers in with the strawberries.
So, Kelley and I place half of the strawberries and peppers in the bags. The rest go into the refrigerator crisper as normal. Then we take one banana out and leave it on the counter; the rest go into the Green Bag. We'll see if there's really any difference with the Green Bags and without.
"Today's the first of October, and in 30 days, we'll see what happens," says Kelley.
Here's your 5-second warning....exactly 30 days later, I return to Kelley's home. If you watch the video test on this Web site, you might want to stop eating while doing so. What I found was pretty gross!
"It's a bad science experiment!" laughs Kelley as she pulls out all of the produce from the fridge and off the counter.
"Oh, that is disgusting!" I gasp after seeing very rotten strawberries, bananas, and green peppers.
Thirty days later, all of the bananas drew bugs, the peppers have holes and mold both inside the Green Bag and out, and I can't even describe what happened to the strawberries!
Plus, there's really not much difference between the produce we kept out of the Green Bags and those that went inside.
"There's no way you'd want to eat any of that," says Kelley.
In fact, she says even just after one week, the strawberries and bananas inside the Green Bags started going bad. The peppers lasted a little longer, but again, not much difference between those in the Green bags and those not.
"I kind of suspected this would happen. It's almost an outlandish claim that produce can still be fresh up to 30 days. I think it's a waste of money. I'd give it an 'F'," she says.
The video speaks volumes---I'm baggin' Debbie Meyer's Green Bags. The only thing fresh about this $10 product a whopping 'F' on this Does it Work test.
I called the company. An operator says several people have complained their Green Bags also did not work, but she also says several people swear by them. She also says they work better on produce picked right off the vine. So, if you have an apple or peach tree in your yard, maybe these bags will work for you. I buy most of my produce at the grocery store, so I will not be purchasing the Green Bags.
Wow. I've purchased the "green bags", but not the Debbie Meyer brand. I purchased an "off" brand for only $5.
Tried 'em and not impressed. Also, the interior is coated with a substance called zeolite ( Google this) that acts an absorbent for the gases that naturally occur when produce begins to rot.
Zeolite is mainly used industrially, in things like detergents and cat litter, even has nuclear applications.
Don't know about anyone else, but I feel like I'm getting enough chemical overload already and don't want any more of it :)
They're okay. They seemed to work well for soft fruits and veggies (watermelon, summer squash). I got mine because I needed to get something else for a free shipping offer on Amazon. I don't think I'd bother buying them again though because they are a royal pain to wash and , especially, dry.
I've never tried them, but I own lock & lock containers that work quite well in keeping veggies and fruit fresh longer. They do not work for bananas, however, if they do go too ripe...in the freezer they go and I'll use them to make bread and pancakes.
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