A flour sack or flour bag is a
bag or sack for
flour. Large bulk bags as well as smaller consumer sizes are available.
Description
A flour sack or flour bag is a
bag or sack for
flour. Sacks range in size and material.
Package types
Bulk packaging
Flour is often shipped from the miller to bakeries, institutions, and other bulk uses. Sizes range from 10 kg to 100 kg. One traditional construction was cheap
cotton bags. These printed cotton bags were sometimes viewed as
collectables; other times the
flour sack fabric was repurposed into a variety of household items.
Current practices are to use multi-wall
paper sacks. Some include a layer of
plastic film for barrier properties and insect control. Woven polypropylene bags are also used for high strength; at least one variety (
Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags) also includes inner plastic bags.
Consumer packaging
Consumer packages are often bags or sacks constructed of paper.
Plastic films are also used, sometimes with
reclosable features.
Stand-up pouches of flour have recently been introduced.[1]
Considerations
Contents
A wide variety of
wheat flour are available. Flour can also be made from other grains, roots, nuts, etc.
Packaging engineers and
food scientists need to understand the properties of the particular flour, intended handling and logistics systems, and desired
shelf life.[2] Package forms and materials can be matched to these needs.[3]
Insects
Insects can be a problem. When available, a suitable
insecticide can be used; care must be used to ensure product safety. Hermetic plastic bags also help.[5][6] When insect infestation is noted, one method of stopping further growth is to freeze the sacks of flour for several days.[7]
Cultural impact
Flour sack fabric has been used as a cheap source of fabrics for consumers to create their own textiles.
Printed cotton bags were sometimes viewed as
collectables.
Various place names were named after flour sacks, since they were so ubiquitous in so many cultures.
Blatobulgium in Scotland, and
Pieniężno in Poland, for example, are possibly named after words for flour sack in different languages. The all-white tower in the old city of
Ravensburg in Germany is called Mehlsack?
Reuel Colt Gridley famously carried a 50-pound bag of flour on his shoulder after losing a political bet in
Austin, Nevada. The sack of flour was later auctioned off, then re-donated, then re-auctioned again and again to raise money for the
United States Sanitary Commission during the American Civil War. Auctioning this single flour sack eventually raised more than $250,000.[8]
^Cooke, Linda (March 1998).
"Pest-Proofing Food Packaging"(PDF). Agricultural Research.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 2012-10-04. Retrieved 2022-10-15.