A method for sterilising unpackaged consumable items by means of a treatment agent having a disinfectant, and using storage containers and outer packaging. In order that the abovementioned method can be designed and further developed so that contamination of the consumable items is reliably excluded, a certain quantity of unpackaged consumable items is stored together for a specified time in a storage container and the inside of the storage container is treated with a predetermined quantity of the treatment agent. In order to achieve “long-term sterilisation” a storage container serves to accommodate a plurality of unarranged, unpackaged consumable items, with the material of the storage container being plastic, wherein the storage container is designed as a bag, which after filling with consumable items and subsequent treatment is closed and then stored in a closed outer package.
