bottle-boys-post-2-1-300x171
campaign

“Singing” glass bottles inspire millennials to recycle 

1 min

experience-banner-300x167

5 Ways To Use Glass For Your Halloween Decorations At Home

With Halloween right around the bend, we’d like to share 5 ways to use glass around the house for your decorations. Nifty, crafty, and sometimes outright spine-chilling, these ideas will leave your house ready for the big day – the 31st of October!

2 min

international-year-glass-banner-300x167
campaign

Join us in celebrating the International Year of Glass 

1 min

5-ways-you-can-help-close-the-glass-loop-e1725898153863-300x151

5 ways you can help close the glass loop

We all have a part to play in building a more sustainable world, starting with how we shop, all the way down to how we get rid of our rubbish. This summer, organisations involved in all stages of the glass collection and recycling value chain have launched Close the Glass Loop – a major glass recycling action plan for Europe.

3 min

About Friends of Glass

Friends of Glass is a community that supports all things glass packaging, as part of a more intentional lifestyle that starts with our everyday choices.

Learn more about us

Why Glass?

Learn why we love glass, and why we’re dedicated to promoting its numerous benefits to people all over the world.

Learn more about why

Take Action

Join a growing community of people who care about a better planet and a healthier lifestyle.

Discover more

Stories

Hear stories from the community, and discover all the reasons why choosing glass is better for us, as part of a more intentional lifestyle.

Learn more

Why do drinks and food taste better in glass?

Ever wondered how packaging influences flavour, or why Coke tastes better in a glass bottle?  

How does packaging affect flavour?

If you’ve ever noticed that your favourite food and drink products taste better when packaged in glass, you’re not alone. There’s so much that goes into the perceived taste of a product including the quality of the brand, temperature, and even how you’re choosing to experience the moment itself – think of how good it feels to crack open a cold beer or Coca Cola on a hot summer’s day! 

One aspect we often overlook is how our food or drink is packaged. Packaging is key for protecting our favourite drinks, such as Coke, beer, milk and wine. It influences the flavour, composition and quality of food and drink products. And there’s so much more to food and drink, if we look beyond the label. Look in your fridge or pantry, and you’ll probably notice just how much comes in glass: yoghurts, sauces, jams and condiments. This can have a significant impact on how much we enjoy our meals or beverages. 

How does glass preserve the taste of food and drinks? 

A lot of it comes down to science. Researchers and food scientists (like Food Packaging Forum and Dieter Schrenk) have found that glass is proven to preserve food product flavour and quality, compared to other packaging materials. In the case of glass, this concerns four key elements – natural ingredients, inertness, impermeability and safety – which work in harmony to make your favourite food or drink taste better. 

Packaging with materials that come from nature

With glass, what you see is what you get. Every bottle, jar or pot is created by combining three ingredients found in nature – sand, soda ash and limestone – as well as recycled glass content (also known as cullet)! Unlike other packaging materials, there’s no need for any additional plastic linings or synthetic internal layers to ensure food or drink can be safely stored for a long period of time.  

Pure taste

Glass is tasteless and odourless. Using it to package our favourite food and drinks maintains all of the freshness, strength, aroma and flavour, as well as all the vitamins and minerals. Its inertness also guarantees no chemical reactions between the content and packaging, meaning your food or drink will taste exactly as originally intended.  

Impermeable material

As a non-porous, single-layer material, glass acts as a protective barrier against external elements. All flavours and a

romas of your favourite food or drink stay intact, as it functions as a barrier that keeps out oxygen, light and heat. This is why we call it “impermeable,” as it doesn’t let anything from outside affect taste.  

Safely stored

Glass doesn’t just result in food that preserves its original taste – it’s also a safer and healthier choice compared to other materials due to the lack of chemical migration.  There’s no risk of potentially harmful chemicals that can leach into food and drinks. The material also doesn’t deteriorate over time, making glass a safer and healthier choice for storage.

 

View all articles
why-does-beer-taste-better-in-glass-300x167

Why does beer taste better in glass?

Whether it’s cracking open a cold lager to cool down on a summer day or enjoying a carefully crafted bottle of ale in the local bar, we bet that when it comes to planning your next beer, you’re thinking about glass. But why is it that we enjoy beer better when it comes in glass? In this article we’ll not only explain to you why your favourite drink tastes different in glass, but also how you can store your beer at home for the best experience.

5 min

healthy-packaging-healthy-families-what-makes-glass-the-healthy-choice-300x167

Healthy packaging, healthy families: What makes glass the healthy choice?

Did you know: every week, the average person ingests up to one credit card worth of plastic from food, water, or the air? You are what you eat – and that includes how it’s packaged. That’s why when it comes to our favourite food and drink, we need to look beyond the label.

4 min