Oxygen absorbers – are they safe in our food?

QUESTION:

Oxygen absorbers – are they safe in our food (the little satchels in Mountain Bread Wraps for example)?

ANSWER:

I will preface this by saying I haven’t looked into this before or deeply.

These sachets in our food are designed to control oxygen in a sealed package. They can often absorb up to 3 times its weight in oxygen. These are a big advantage to minimising additives in products, gas flushing and vacuum packaging. They are often made from natural zeolite and iron powder. They are supposed to be non toxic and would consider them as safe to be next to the food. I would love others to contribute their perspective / knowledge on the topic also.