Hello, Ken!
You wrote on Tue, 8 Aug 2006 07:48:52 -0700:

??>> On Mon, 7 Aug 2006 19:46:30 -0700, Ken Blake wrote:
??>>
??>>> Steve Wertz wrote:
??>>>
??>>>> Never buy fish sauce in plastic bottles.
??>>>
??>>> Why not?
??>>
??>> Because most plastic is slightly porous. Some of those
??>> bottles have been through hell and back before they hit
??>> the shelves, often for another, long rest.
??>>
??>> Although its already spoiled, if it sits in plastic too
??>> long it will spoil in a different way. I've seen some
??>> really old fish sauce in plastic bottles at some stores.
??>> It's not a pretty sight - dark and cloudy.
??>>
??>> The fact that it's in plastic bottles to begin with is a
??>> bad sign already, fresh or not.

KB> Thanks, interesting. But why do you say this about fish
KB> sauce in particular? Wouldn't the same hold true for almost
KB> anything bottled in plastic--soy sauce, ketchup, mustard,
KB> mayonnaise, etc.?

I've not noticed any problems with the use of plastic, perhaps
because I tend to use ketchup etc. faster than fish sauce. I
tend to buy soy sauce in bulk: a gallon metal can, believe it or
not! With oriental condiments, I have found that it's sometimes
the cheaper and inferior varieties that are packaged in plastic.
However, Hoisin sauce bought in a squeeze bottle is a great
convenience and comments about quality don't seem to apply.
Wasabi in a tube is perhaps not as good as freshly prepared but
is very useful as are, getting away from oriental cusine, tomato
and anchovy pastes.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not