Antimicrobial Efficacy and Life Cycle Impact of Silver-Containing Food Containers

Food loss and waste due to spoilage represents a critical global challenge to sustainable food consumption and production in a resource constrained world. Silver (Ag) has been used in food storage applications to reduce the food spoilage rate through its antimicrobial properties. However, the efficacy and safety of commercial silver-treated food storage containers are not well characterized regarding the potential life cycle implications of their design and application. This study aims to determine the antimicrobial efficacy and quantify silver leaching from a commercial container product containing micronized silver particles over simulated washing and end-of-life landfill disposal. The leached silver results were then used for examining the environmental impacts of the product at 10 impact categories. With a loading of 8.8 ± 0.6 Ag μg/g in polymer matrix, the silver-containers were ineffective in inhibiting the growth of common foodborne pathogens. After four washing cycles, the containers only released...