Hello
Organic vinegars are now only available in plastic bottles. Not good for the flavor, very bad for the environment. And you know that plastic particles dissolve and end up in the food. Very disappointing and backward. I no longer buy vinegar at Migros.
Kind regards
Guest
Even if the vinegar bottles were produced in Switzerland, they would not be any more ecological than reusable glass bottles. This would be possible in much larger Germany, but not in small Switzerland.
A lot of packaging is imported because of the cheaper prices, but it is difficult to identify or trace exactly which packaging is imported because it is often purchased from wholesalers who produce little or nothing themselves.
In the case of beverage cans, the situation is quite clear: practically all cans with a capacity of more or less than 0.25 liters are imported, mostly already filled from Germany. 99% of all beverage cans come from the company Rexam (UK), which produces in three plants in Germany and one plant each in Austria and Switzerland (Rauch, Red Bull). Recycling can scrap saves 90-95% of the energy needed to produce new aluminum cans and around 40% of the energy needed to produce tinplate cans (Wikipedia). The production of plastic bottles is less energy-intensive and therefore more widespread. Plastic bottles and aluminum cans weigh considerably less than reusable glass bottles, but require a considerable amount of energy to recycle and transport. Plastic containers are only used once for food, so they always have to be produced again. Aluminum and tinplate cans can be reused for food once they have been melted down.
Various studies have examined the energy requirements of packaging. The results show that reusable glass packaging is ecologically healthier for transportation distances of less than 400 km. Only when transportation distances exceed 400 km can beverage cans achieve an ecological impact profile comparable to that of reusable packaging. Essentially, plastic containers are not very different from metal ones, as the range is much wider. PE, PP, PS, EPS, PET etc. and many also differ in density, which is abbreviated as LD and HD (Low / High Destiny). Not every plastics company can recycle all types, most are specialized, which means longer transport routes for recycling. However, no recycled material is used for food packaging.
In addition, the majority of consumer packaging is ultimately incinerated, which is known as thermal recycling. There are companies that also sort plastic, but firstly not many and secondly not all plastics are recycled. At the recycling centers that exist almost everywhere today, a distinction is often only made between film and solid plastic. Some PET collection points point out that vinegar, cooking oil and fabric softener bottles are not PET because acids, oils and fats of any kind can contaminate the PET raw material. In the canton of Aargau, fee bags are often used which can be filled with all plastics. Even wheel trims, clothespins or garden furniture parts that are not accepted elsewhere can be disposed of in the bag. Most of it is shredded and thermally recycled (incinerated) in concrete plants, waste incineration plants or other industrial plants. Very little is actually recycled, usually in chemical pallets which in turn end up as hazardous waste. The types of plastic in the collection containers are simply too diverse to be recycled in any meaningful way.
Plastic for food is ultimately no more ecological than aluminum or tinplate. This is because it is not only the energy used in production that counts, but also the energy and transportation when the plastic is no longer needed by us, which is unfortunately always ignored. A PET bottle for food is always a new product that can no longer be used for food when it is recycled. In the production of food-grade plastic, the production and transportation of the raw materials is usually not calculated in terms of energy.
If the Migros organic vinegar were a Swiss product, then reusable glass bottles would make more ecological sense, as transportation distances of more than 400 km can hardly occur in Switzerland, which is around 300 km wide. Therefore, the switch to plastic containers is not based on ecology but rather on maximizing the company's profits. If you want to do something good for nature, buy high-percentage vinegar essence in 5-liter canisters and make your own vinegar. It's not a lot of effort, it's fun and makes for an enjoyable culinary change.
Greetings from the Migi-Frekel
Guest
@Frederica du writes: "The vinegars are produced by ELSA in Estavayer-le-Lac."
This statement leads one to believe that the vinegars are produced by ELSA itself. However, the vinegars used are mostly imported and are then only filled into plastic bottles by ELSA.
Guest
@Daniel_Migros You still haven't answered what exactly you meant by "most ecological alternative". The most ecological alternative TO WHAT?
Guest
The more ecological alternative to organic vinegar in pet bottles is vinegar in reusable glass bottles. Because vinegar contains acid, it is even easier for substances from the bottle to get into the vinegar and thus into the human organism, which does not happen with glass. I don't buy vinegar in plastic bottles. But if you buy vinegar in plastic, it's your own fault if you get cancer at some point.
Guest
Then I won't buy the vinegar at Migros any more if they don't even reply here. But not only for this reason. Unfortunately, I recently bought a plastic bottle of organic apple cider vinegar from Migros and will certainly never do it again. It's not just about the plastic bottle, but about the vinegar itself. When you smell it, it stings your nose and smells of artificial flavors, was produced in a highly industrialized way and has nothing to do with a healthy diet. There are much better vinegars on the market outside of Migros, which is only trying to turn shit into gold!
Guest
Glass bottles are better than PET bottles in every respect, that is well known. PET only leaches toxins, antimony, hormones and fluorides from the plasticizer into the food together with water. Vinegar, however, is much more acidic than mineral water or lemonade and therefore the contamination in PET bottles with vinegar is already higher. PET cannot be hot-filled like glass and cold sterilization uses DMDC, which can cause cancer and has been detected in wines where the bottles were disinfected with it.
Read in more detail here -> https://www.wasserklinik.com/weichmacher-pet-flaschen/
Daniel wrote
>>> We consider the switch to PET to be sensible because it is the most ecological alternative and product safety is also guaranteed in PET. <<<
It may be more ecological, but certainly not healthier. Product safety is guaranteed as long as the contamination remains within the limits applicable in Switzerland. This is the crux of the matter, as BPA contamination of food cans is also permitted in Switzerland. PET does not contain BPA, but it does contain plasticizers and other substances that are harmful to humans. The fact is that the vinegar in PET is more contaminated than water and less healthy than if it were filled in glass, even if the limit values are not exceeded. Migros was certainly aware of this when making the switch. Migros therefore does not seem to consider the sustainable health of its customers to be as important. Migros justifies the switch to PET with weight, fuel and exhaust gas savings, but there was never any mention of health.
Guest
Daniel didn't say that PET is more ecological than glass, just the most ecological alternative! The organic apple cider vinegar in the Coop only costs 10 centimes more than in Migros and is produced in Switzerland, Bio Suisse certified and of course bottled in glass.
Guest
LeShop now officially warns against PET! Bravo Migros, although it probably wasn't planned that way?
Guest
Will these vinegars soon be bottled in France?
"The Migros subsidiary Elsa has acquired a majority stake in the company Idhéa in Hochfelden, Alsace. Idhéa specializes in the production and sale of cold sauces and condiments. The production of salad and other sauces will be gradually relocated to Hochfelden by the beginning of 2018. In Estavayer-le-Lac, the focus will be entirely on the production of dairy products." http://www.finanzen.ch/nachrichten/aktien/Migros-Tochter-Elsa-uebernimmt-franzoesische-Saucenspezialistin-1001424021
This would be another reason to stop shopping at Migros!
Guest
Although they are considerably lighter than glass and also break-resistant, consumers have to pay a high price for this convenience in terms of health risk and taste. PET bottles contain plasticizers, neurotoxins, hormones and heavy metals...
https://www.wasserklinik.com/weichmacher-pet-flaschen
