An oxygen absorber for blending in a resin, comprising a mixed powder containing an iron powder, a metal halide and an alkaline substance, and having a half-peak width on a plane (110) of 0.20°/2θ (Co—Kα) or less as measured by a powder X-ray diffraction method, a specific surface area of 0.5 m2/g or more, and an average particle size of 1 to 40 μm. The oxygen absorber effectively suppresses the generation of hydrogen, features excellent safety, exhibits excellent oxygen-absorbing capability and offers an advantage of high productivity due to the suppressed occurrence of coarse particles in the step of producing the oxygen absorber.
The oxygen-absorbing container has a layer comprising an oxygen-absorbing resin composition containing the oxygen absorber for blending in a resin of the invention, excellently preserves the content, exhibits good appearance with less ruggedness on the surface, and is free from such a probability of swelling or rupturing of the container due to the generation of hydrogen.