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I have a polypropylene water container and some large PET bottles. I don't know if it's OK to put lemon water in there. I read from somewhere that you shouldn't put lemon water in plastic or aluminum as acid in lemon can leach contaminants out of the container. What containers are safe for storing lemon water?

Jisang Yoo
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Both glass and stainless steel are non-reactive and should be fine.

Caleb
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From recipetips.com

Stainless steel, glass, enamel, and glazed ceramic are examples of non-reactive materials that are not affected when food items such as tomatoes with a high acid content come in contact with the surface of the utensils or equippment.

KMC
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Are you talking about mixing lemon juice with water? Or are you talking about a commercial sports drink such as: True Citris Lemon Drink?

If you are talking about the mixed drink, the product's website indeed do warn the consumer against using a plastic water bottle for the mixed drink. However it actually recommonds using the lightweight aluminum water bottles.

Turns out we should have kept that metal container, because the one-time-use plastic bottles that water, soda and juice come in are proven to leach DEHP, a carcinogen, into the liquids. And old-style Nalgene bottles (those wide, smoked plastic ones that a lot of camping types love) are also no-no’s. They leach BPA, a synthetic hormone that may cause cancer.

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If we are talking about lemon juice (from the actual fruit) mixed with water, one should stay away from storing any type of acidic food in metal containers. There are of course some metals which are safer to use(less reactive to the acid) but as a rule of thumb you shouldn't. Aluminum is however reactive to the acid and so you should avoid using aluminum bottles.

To actually answer your question, check on the bottle's website to see if they say it is BPA free. If it is indeed BPA free, then you may use the bottle to store the lemon water. If not, then use a glass jar. This of course is impractical if you intend to carry that bottle with you on a jog or something. Another option is to take a look at this: BPA-free Nalgene bottles.

Community
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Jay
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    I have the exact same bottle as pictured above. What confuses me is that it is in between the do and don't store descriptions. Is this safe, or is it not? I don't know if this bottle is stainless steel or aluminum. There is no description beside this bottle and my daughter's lemon juice/orange juice is in it as we speak, ready for a long school road trip. –  Nov 06 '13 at 07:28
  • @Joselyn there is no way to tell what your bottle is made from. Many manufacturers use this shape, and they can use any metal they want, and if they use a reactive one, they can cover it on the inside with a non reactive layer. – rumtscho Nov 06 '13 at 10:29
  • Stainless steel is magnetic and aluminum is not. I'd say take a magnet to it to solve the riddle. – Preston Feb 14 '15 at 00:32