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Ten leaves, one physics

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All ten are dry solids Which is the most uniform group in this library Moisture is the shared enemy And nuts add oxidation Dried fruit adds stickiness So the mouth serves nine of the ten Capacity is all bulk Three sizes carry most of it Material is mostly HDPE The 9 clear containers are the ones you can see into And 4 have handles 4 plastic square grip containers References

Grain, cereal, fruit, bean, flour, nut, pasta, treat, rice, sugar. One problem.

All ten are dry solids

Bulk grain, cereal storage, dried fruit, dry bean, flour home, nut storage, pasta storage, pet treat home, rice storage, sugar home.

Which is the most uniform group in this library

Most properties here find different physics per leaf. These ten want the same thing: a dry interior, a wide mouth and a lid that reseals.

Moisture is the shared enemy

Flour cakes, sugar hardens, pasta softens, nuts go rancid faster when damp. One failure mode across ten leaves.

And nuts add oxidation

A nut is a fat, so light and oxygen matter for that leaf in a way they do not for rice. 14 of the 29 containers here are white and opaque.

Dried fruit adds stickiness

Which is a mouth-width problem rather than a barrier problem. A narrow neck and sticky fruit do not mix.

So the mouth serves nine of the ten

14 containers on 110 mm or wider and 8 more that open to their full diameter. Only sugar pours happily from a narrow neck.

Capacity is all bulk

950 to 7,571 mL with a median of 2,514, and nothing under a quart. Which is correct for a pantry and wrong for a spice.

Three sizes carry most of it

The median is 2,514 mL, which is about two and a half litres, and the top is 7,571 which is two gallons.

Material is mostly HDPE

20 of 29, against 7 PET and 2 glass. Which is light, tough and opaque, and for a cupboard that is the sensible default.

The 9 clear containers are the ones you can see into

Which for a pantry is a real benefit: knowing what is in a jar without opening it. 7 PET and 2 glass.

And 4 have handles

HDPE round tubs with handle. A two and a half litre container of flour is heavy, and a handle is the difference between usable and not.

4 plastic square grip containers

Which pack better in a cupboard than round ones do. Square beats round for storage density, which is the whole point of a pantry container.

References

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. 178 rows: 29 containers and 149 closures, which is one of the smallest container counts in this library and a closure ratio of better than five to one. 950 to 7,571 mL with a median of 2,514, and nothing under a quart. 20 HDPE, 7 PET and 2 glass. 12 jars, 9 bottles, 8 tubs and pails. 5 PE wide mouth containers, 4 HDPE round tubs with handle, 4 plastic square grip containers, 3 plastic round pails, 3 HDPE single wall canisters, 2 PET wide mouth containers. 14 white, 9 clear, 5 natural, 1 black. Necks: 9 at 110-400, 8 unrecorded, 5 at 120TT, 2 each at 48-400 and 53-400, and singles at 110-405, 89-400 and 120-400. Closures: 110 continuous thread polypropylene lids, 16 metal or aluminum CT caps, 10 dome lids, 5 round tub lids, 3 plastic round pail lids, 3 sealing discs, 1 metal lug or twist cap, 1 metal overshell lid. Buyability, a snapshot: 20 of 29 available, 9 not; 9 quote only; 4 full case only, with case packs from 16 to 600 and a median of 80.

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. Of the 29 containers in this group, 9 are on a 110-400 finish and 5 on 120TT, so 14 are on a finish of 110 mm or wider, and a further 8 have no neck finish recorded because they are tubs and pails that close with a lid across their full diameter. The home coffee, tea and spice shelf next door has 70-400 as its commonest finish, on 54 of 205 containers.

Written from 21 CFR 101.7 and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. That section reaches a food in package form, meaning a package for sale, so almost none of it reaches somebody filling a pantry canister; it is quoted because the four permitted terms and the 231 cubic inch gallon are worth knowing and because it shows what changes when a jar is sold rather than filled. The mass against volume gap is set out in the specialty supplements property. Nothing here addresses net quantity formatting, type size, placement, metric declarations, or state weights and measures law.