Food is a commodity that modern consumers can take for granted. Some people recognize that access to food isn't a guarantee. These individuals store food for future use. Storing dry goods can be an effective way to feed your family during an emergency.

Plastic buckets are the most common type of vessel used to store dry goods. If you want your food products to be safe when you take them out of their plastic buckets, use the following tips when preparing your storage supply.

1. Use Food-Grade Buckets

It's important that you use only food-grade plastic buckets when you are building your cache of dry goods. Food-grade plastic buckets are manufactured using specialized dyes and chemicals that help release the plastic buckets from their molds. These dyes and chemicals are non-toxic, ensuring that the buckets will not cause any harm.

Storing your dry goods in any other type of plastic container could compromise the safety of your food. Chemicals could leach out from the plastic and into your food supply over time. Use only food-grade plastic buckets for your food storage needs.

2. Use Oxygen Absorbers

Oxygen is essential for maintaining life, but it can spell the death of any dry goods stored in plastic buckets for an extended period of time. Oxygen has the potential to find its way into even a tightly sealed plastic bucket. Exposure to too much oxygen can cause your dry goods to go stale or become infested with pests. The best way to control oxygen levels within your plastic buckets is by adding oxygen absorbers to your dried goods.

Identify the volume of protection offered by the oxygen absorbers you purchase. You may need to use several absorbers to provide adequate protection for your dry goods stored in large plastic buckets.

3. Never Stack Buckets

You will accumulate many plastic buckets as you begin to grow your cache of dry goods. It can be tempting to store these buckets by stacking them on top of one another, but this practice could compromise the safety of the foods inside each bucket.

The weight of a filled bucket has the potential to cause the buckets it is stacked on to crack or collapse. Damage to the plastic compromises a bucket's ability to protect dry goods against contamination.

If you need to store your plastic buckets vertically, install a shelving system that will evenly distribute the weight of the buckets. Visit a supplier to get 5-gallon food-safe buckets.

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