Part of Rapid News Group. Skip to main content. Home Environment News Morrisons to remove plastic wrapping on cucumbers despite food waste risk. Morrisons is removing the plastic from some of its whole cucumbers. Back to Search Results. Some ask, if stores have done away with plastic bags, why are we purchasing food directly wrapped in plastic?
Of course, it all comes down to money — plastic is cheap, and the fresher the cucumber, the more produce sold, and that means more money for the supply chain. The environmentally conscious are very concerned about the negative drawbacks of the plastic wrap; there are just under 25, signatures on a Change. Pairing with Houwelling's to produce plastic-free cucumbers, Apeel notes that its product will protect cucumbers so that they will last longer without the need for potentially harmful plastic shrink wrap.
Houwelling's is a "greenhouse grower and marketer dedicated to delivering a full complement of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.
Apeel employs a plant-based "peel" that is said to "slow water loss and oxidation that an lead to spoilage," hence no need for a plastic wrap.
Apeel also states that this special cultivation also helps to keep the cucumbers purely emerald green. Fortune notes that the plant-based peel is almost in the vein of a banana leaf, resulting in a barrier that not only plastic-free, but edible. This peel helps keep moisture in and oxygen out, hence elongating the shelf life. There is an inherent cool crispness to cucumbers — hence the famous maxim — and the ingredient is so versatile and nutrient-rich.
We have high hopes that these new, environmentally sound alternatives will be long-lasting and signal a possible shift away from harmful plastics. We're excited to see what's to come! What is an English cucumber? How do you cook with cucumbers? In Why Shrink-wrap a Cucumber? The Complete Guide to Environmental Packaging, Stephen Aldridge and Laurel Miller unpack various myths to show how, done well, packaging can please the planet as much as it can producers, retailers and consumers.
Aldridge accepts that there are too many egregious cases of over-packaging as manufacturers compete to "shelf-shout" the loudest. There's no excuse for it. But the designer and consultant, who has advised dozens of top brands, adds: "An environmental view should always be at the core of a design project rather than a box to tick. While the more we strive to use less packaging, Aldridge says, its greenness or otherwise isn't always as clear as polyethylene The miles of plastic used in the process might seem unnecessary, and have been the subject of well-meaning anti-packaging campaigns if an apple or a potato can go naked, why not a cucumber?
But research shows that a wrapped cucumber lasts more than three times as long as an unwrapped one. It will also lose just 1. A longer life, Aldridge writes, means less frequent deliveries, with all their consequent energy costs, and, crucially, less waste. After harvest all fresh produce continues to respire breath — its carbohydrate reacts with oxygen in the atmosphere and releases carbon dioxide and water see here for more info.
Note a number of factors also affect the respiration rate — the variety, ripeness of the cucumber when picked, wax coatings and storage conditions. These particular cucumbers came from Greece, so were picked, wrapped and labelled in Greece, loaded onto a truck, travelled miles including a trip over the sea to a UK distribution centre and then from the UK DC to the local stores.
Even with temperature controlled transport the temperature the cucumbers are kept at will vary. In many cases as with these they are sold and stored at room temperature, so respiration and water-loss will be greater during the time they are on sale.
The shrink also physically protects the fruits from damage during transit. OK, so the home-experiment above was just a bit of fun yes I know, I need to get out more.
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