Food Storage Mylar Bags

Food Storage Mylar Bags: Serious Preservation for Long-Term Stockpiling

Food storage mylar bags are the go-to solution for anyone serious about long-term food preservation. Whether you're building a family emergency supply, running a freeze-dry operation, stocking a commercial pantry, or selling emergency preparedness kits, mylar bags with oxygen absorbers are the standard method for extending dry food shelf life to 5, 10, or even 25 years.

This guide explains how food storage mylar bags work, what to store in them, how to seal them properly, and what to look for when buying in bulk.

Why Mylar Is the Gold Standard for Long-Term Food Storage

Three things destroy stored food: oxygen, moisture, and light. Mylar bags with aluminium foil barriers block all three effectively.

- Oxygen barrier: The aluminium foil in a quality mylar bag has a near-zero oxygen transmission rate. Combined with an oxygen absorber placed inside the sealed bag, you can reduce the oxygen level inside the bag to below 0.1%, which prevents the oxidation and rancidity that degrade food over time.

- Moisture barrier: The foil layer also prevents moisture ingress. Dry foods stay dry. This is critical for preventing mould, bacterial growth, and the hardening that makes stored rice, beans, or flour clump and become unusable.

- Light protection: The opaque silver interior blocks UV and visible light that would otherwise degrade vitamins, degrade fats, and break down food structure over time.

No other commonly available flexible packaging material matches this performance at a practical cost for home and small commercial food storage.

What Foods Work Best in Mylar Bags?

Mylar bag storage works best for low-moisture, low-fat dry goods:

Excellent for long-term mylar storage:

- White rice (25+ year shelf life when sealed with oxygen absorbers)

- Dried beans and lentils (25+ years)

- Pasta (15-20+ years)

- Rolled oats (20+ years)

- Wheat berries and grain (20+ years)

- Granulated sugar (indefinite shelf life, though no oxygen absorber needed)

- Salt (indefinite, no oxygen absorber needed)

- Freeze-dried foods (25+ years)

- Dry milk powder (2-10 years)

- Flour (5-10 years, with oxygen absorbers)

Not suitable for long-term mylar storage:

- Foods with high fat content (oils, nuts, meat) which go rancid regardless of oxygen

- Foods with significant moisture (anything above about 10% moisture content)

- Foods requiring refrigeration

How to Use Food Storage Mylar Bags

Step 1: Choose the Right Size

Common sizes for food storage:

- 1 quart (approximately 1 litre): for variety in a small space, or single-person use quantities

- 1 gallon (approximately 4 litres): the most common size for individual food categories

- 5 gallon (approximately 20 litres): for bulk storage of staples; fits inside a standard 5-gallon food-grade bucket

Step 2: Add Your Food

Fill the bag, leaving 2-3 inches of headspace at the top for sealing. Shake or tap to settle the contents.

Step 3: Add an Oxygen Absorber

Place the appropriate size oxygen absorber inside the bag. For a 1-gallon bag, a 300cc absorber is standard. For a 5-gallon bag, use 2,000cc or two 1,000cc absorbers.

Oxygen absorbers need to be used promptly after opening (they start absorbing the moment they're exposed to air) so have your bags ready before opening the absorber packet.

Step 4: Seal the Bag

Seal with a clothes iron set to the linen/cotton setting, an impulse sealer, or a dedicated mylar bag sealer. Run the sealing surface along the top of the bag in a smooth, single motion. Allow to cool, then check the seal is complete and airtight.

Step 5: Label and Store

Label with contents, fill date, and best-by date. Store in a cool, dark, stable temperature environment. Mylar bags are often placed inside food-grade plastic buckets for additional protection and organisation.

Thickness Matters

Food storage mylar bags are measured in mils (thousandths of an inch) or microns. For long-term storage:

- 3.5 mil / 90 micron: adequate for one to five year storage in a stable environment

- 5 mil / 125 micron: recommended for long-term storage of five years or more

- 7 mil / 180 micron: heavy duty; maximum puncture resistance for rough handling

Thicker bags are more resistant to puncture and abrasion, which matters if bags are stored in buckets or under pressure from other stored goods.

Buying Food Storage Mylar Bags

For individuals and families, bags are typically purchased in packs of 50 to 500. For commercial preparedness suppliers and freeze-dry operations, bulk purchasing of 1,000 or more bags is common.

At TheCardBoardBoxes, food-grade mylar storage bags are available in standard sizes with food-safe specification and fast UK delivery. Custom printing is also available for commercial operations who want branded food storage products or who are producing retail kits.