What Are Banana Bags, And Do They Actually Extend The Fruit's Shelf Life?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

When you want a quick, tasty, and healthy snack, it's hard to go wrong with a banana — the only problem is that you have such a short window in which to enjoy them. Too often, you end up losing out on the last couple because they turn brown and become unpleasant to eat, leaving you with the only option of baking yet another batch of brown butter banana bread. Banana bags like the Banana Storage Bag with Aluminum Lining claim to solve that problem by keeping bananas fresh and ripe for longer. Whether they actually work, however, is also a bit of a mixed bag.

Banana bags are sealed polyester or nylon bags meant to store bananas. They're not airtight. Most seal with a drawstring, and they cost about $10. The bag is meant to be stored in the fridge, where it insulates the bananas and helps control the airflow around them to slow ripening — flying in the face of everything you've likely ever known about preserving bananas. A well-known hack to make bananas ripen faster is to put them in a brown paper bag, and you're supposed to avoid plastic bags because they trap moisture which can make the bananas spoil too quickly. 

None of the bags sold online actually describes how they prevent ripening. The descriptions are often very simple and claim they help control airflow, temperature, and humidity. Rather than stop ethylene production, the bags simply alter the environmental conditions of the bananas.

Media reviews of banana bags claim that after two weeks, bagged bananas still looked good while those left on the counter had turned brown. Amazon reviews lean towards the positive, too, with many users claiming the bag worked well. On the other hand, several one-star reviews say the bag made their bananas go bad faster. The environment in the bag may be creating a delicate balance that holds bananas in a sweet spot for a short time, but is easily disrupted. 

Normally, you shouldn't store bananas in the fridge because it makes them go bad faster. But in an insulated bag, the bananas may be held in an optimal temperature range that could allow them to stay ripe a little longer than normal. It won't last long, however — especially if the bag is opened or not sealed properly. That could explain why some people's bananas go bad even faster in the banana bags. Eventually, the insulating effect will fade, and then it will be no different than fridge storage.

More than one review of banana bags claimed that the texture of the banana was altered, describing it as anywhere from smooth and soft to overly squishy. So while nanana bags seem to work, — at least for some people — the effect may only extend your banana's freshness for a few days while sacrificing consistency in the meantime.