[eli5] Why does 99% of everything come in a plastic bag – but flour comes in a paper bag?
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Probably has to do with ventilation. You don’t want to accidentally drop a drop of water into the flour and accidentally make bread that’s going to mold your entire bag of flour.
Depends on where you are though and what you buy. As a Swede, I’m absolutely horrified of how much plastic that some other countries use unnecessarily in their products… that often doesn’t even get recycled. Anyway, my point is that pretty much everything here that can come in better materials like paper, do. Not just flour.
Flour will “flow” if given the chance; a plastic bag would become a “blop” shape pretty quickly and would be impossible to stack neatly for transportation or on store shelves. Trying to pick it up would be like trying to pick up a grocery bag full of water. You could thicken the plastic and make it rigid to solve this…except now it’s in a solid plastic box, which is going to be more expensive.
Paper is a cheap solution that can be folded and shaped, making the flour easier to ship, easier to stock, and easier for you to pick up.
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