Those people who make food packaging with "peel here" on the corner, eg supermarket bacon. Do they know that their packaging equipment is broken or faulty?

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thehatteryone@reddit

Even when the peel section works, they'll put the product in backwards. Mostly think packs of ham where the slices are offset stacked. Why put the peel corner at the bottom so the film needs to be peeled all the way up to the top to get the first slice. If they just did it the other way around you could keep the pack half sealed, stick it back up easier, help keep the product fresher.

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AirlineSevere7456@reddit

One thing I'll give the likes of M&S is you can open packs like this fairly easily.

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ddmf@reddit

It's because they consistently choose thinner plastic to save money - the seal is probably specced to work 100% of the time with 50 micron and 50% of the time with 30 micron so they choose 35 micron or something.

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WotanMjolnir@reddit

This will be partly true, but there is another issue that, unless you work in the plastic packaging industry, you would not realise.

What people think is a simple film lid made out of a single sheet of film is likely to be a laminated film made from two (maybe three) different types of film. This is done as different film types have different properties which are especially important in food use situations, and by laminating two films together you can get the properties of both. What this does mean, however, is that if the bond between the plastic case and the film is stronger than the bond between the two layers of film then it's the film layers that are going to separate rather than the lid peel cleanly off. The company that I used to work for specified that laminated films had to be cured in the warm room for a minimum period of time before they were released to ensure good adhesion, but I guess not all companies are created equal, and there is always the point of failure present. It does seem to happen that the film fails so often that I suspect that it's an issue with the technique rather than the manufacture, though.

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ddmf@reddit

Thanks for that, very interesting, didn't realise they were laminated but that makes perfect sense

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True-Abalone-3380@reddit

choose thinner plastic to save money

There was the plastic packaging tax introduced a few years and and now there is ePRN which is is costing a fortune not just in tax but also administration. This is also on top of then general drive to reduce plastic in packaging.

Yes, it is of course related to saving money but there are a lot of factors in play. They need to develop packaging balancing environmental impact, cost, and functionality.

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ddmf@reddit

ePRN

I can only find something about pre-hospital research when I search this, do you have any further info, thanks?

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True-Abalone-3380@reddit

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging-recycling-obligations-and-waste-disposal-fees

https://www.valpak.co.uk/compliance/packaging-compliance/

https://clarity.eco/news/extended-producer-responsibility/defra-releases-initial-extended-producer-responsibility-epr-packaging-base-fees/

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BornInPoverty@reddit

Well you have to cut corners somewhere.

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ddmf@reddit

Hahaha you do when the buggers don't pull off correctly xD

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BunglingBoris@reddit

Constant demands to reduce plastic are driven by the stores and customers. The packaging is supplied to a very tight tolerance and is driven entirely by the customer.

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ddmf@reddit

The openers in m&s and aldi seem to work at a much higher rate than other places from my experience so the stores definitely make a choice, can understand if it's saving them 15% on packaging to underspec.

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BunglingBoris@reddit

You will find they are non recyclable film, and the customer specs a thicker film.

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KiwiNo2638@reddit (OP)

I'm wondering this. Or design changes made without referring back to the original design. I'm assuming it's heat sealed, rather than glad, and the temp designed in to seal it is too hot for the new materials and makes a chemical bond rather than a physical bond.

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ceehred@reddit

They don't. Write to them and tell them they're shit.

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EmuSea4963@reddit

I'm so glad someone asked this question. In my head it's mostly bacon that suffers with this issue. It literally never works. Not ever. But I seem to recall it working just fine years ago. What changed?

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LegSpinner@reddit

The 8-packs of poppadum are like this too.

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blozzerg@reddit

Marks and Spencer’s bacon does work! Has to be the fancier bacon, not the cheap stuff. Two packs for £6.50. It’s also really good bacon, it’s not the stuff that sizzles in a wet pond of pig water when you add it to the pan, it just crisps up nicely.

But more importantly, the peel here tab has a 95% success rate so far. Only thing I’ve ever found that works.

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Possiblyreef@reddit

I went through a phase where I was so fed up with the "peel here" tabs that I only shopped in M&S so I didn't have to deal with awkwardly ripped packaging

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Salt_Television_7079@reddit

“Wet pond of pig water” 🤣🤣 perfect description

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spearmint_wino@reddit

The John Peel session circa 1987 was peak WPoPW

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adymann@reddit

I can hear him in my head saying that. lol

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Leading_Study_876@reddit

But still not quite the peak of perfection that was the Snivelling Shits.

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Harvsnova3@reddit

Waitrose peel here packaging works too. On the rare occasion I treat myself.

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bacon_cake@reddit

Not just bacon, us veggies have the same problem with falafel packets lol

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daedelius@reddit

To be honest, you’d expect a falafel packet to be a faffle to open

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srm79@reddit

yes, it did, now it's only the resealable packets that it works on - why, why, why???

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Karlees-Golden-Dildo@reddit

Covid, ever since the bloody world shut down everything took a giant leap into cheaper quality for magnitudes more money. Anything before is BC, Before Covid. I mean even the quality of cuts coming from abattoir’s is crap compared to BC.

Don’t take this rant as anti covid, this is a rant at quality and price due to greedy companies.

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Gingrpenguin@reddit

Its been like that long before covid....

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Karlees-Golden-Dildo@reddit

Oh trust me I know all about shrinkflation, dont get me started on the size of Mars bars 🤣 but after covid there was such a noticeable difference, you could no longer buy “premium” as it was just more expensive tat when before there was a difference in budget and premium items.

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jimmy_dimmick@reddit

One corner of the pack has a little pimple on it. Try peeling that corner. Works for me 🤷🏻

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Particular-Bid-1640@reddit

Probably thinner cellophane, that tears more easily. Or a switch to a different, more recyclable plastic that also tears more easily

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DevilishlyHandsome63@reddit

Haha one of my pet peeves, glad it's not just me! A lot of Aldi's have the peel here comment on the wrong side of the packaging!

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f8rter@reddit

It’s a crime against humanity

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Itchy-Ad4421@reddit

Marks and Spencer’s ones work

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daedelius@reddit

This isn’t just packaging, it’s M&S …..

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scott94@reddit

Lidl works as well

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DJGibbon@reddit

So do Morrisons. Sometimes the cut in the plastic underneath the film hasn't quite gone through but you can still manage it.

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Itchy-Ad4421@reddit

Yes - Have to try and stretch it through with your finger (or a knife)

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gardenfella@reddit

Aldi bacon ones work too

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Itchy-Ad4421@reddit

They were always a bit bit and miss for me on the purple packets. Smoked I think it is

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Fred776@reddit

You are right. I can usually get their fish packages to work.

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Itchy-Ad4421@reddit

Aye, the smoked salmon ones are very user friendly. None of this slicing them open with a knife or fishying up the hinge on the kitchen scissors

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zpeers82919@reddit

Fishying up. I like this and will be stealing it

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fsuk@reddit

The equipment is actually being sabotaged by the scissor industry

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Workshymassiv@reddit

Big Scissor

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RedTheWolf@reddit

Part of the Gay (women's) Agenda I expect.

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lost_send_berries@reddit

The opposite actually. Lesbians are a publicity campaign from Big Scissor

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MonkeyHamlet@reddit

I have never had a problem with this, I feel so left out!

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Glittering_Vast938@reddit

There is also the impossible to open fresh soup pots (the plastic kind) from Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s. I’ve cut my finger on the lid a few times and have to resort to pliers now!

It always ends up splattering over you and the kitchen in the process too.

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AirconGuyUK@reddit

Why do they even give me the illusion of choice? I am always going to knife it open because they never work. Just don't even bother with the facade..

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autobulb@reddit

I thought my partner and I were spoiled coming from Japan where the packaging there is almost like living in the future. I'm glad other people notice it here and it's just not us being snobby about it.

Anything with a little peel tab will either not peel and the tab will rip off by itself, or it will make a tear in some random line down the packet. In both cases it usually means you need to get scissors or a knife making the tab completely pointless and a waste of time and effort.

"Resealing" packets don't really seal properly so I'd rather put it in a ziploc bag or other container anyway to avoid my cheese drying out. Nice attempt but waste of adhesive.

The spouts on fruit juice and soy/oat milk cartons are rubbish. They are really hard to open the first time because of the seal, and they don't allow you to pour with the spout at the top to eliminate glugging and splashing the drink all over. All we need is the plastic lid to open fully, with a peelable seal for safety/hygiene that is removed on first use. Example here: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Finsmd3f7ndb91.jpg That's how soy milk cartons and all other cartons are made to pour in Japan. Here I get fruit juice all over my counter because it's impossible to pour without it glugging like crazy.

I'll end on a positive note: some fish and meat packaging here is really good. It's a cardboard tray with the fish on it to keep it rigid and then it's vacuum sealed with a thin layer of plastic around it all. It seems to use a lot less plastic than the thicker plastic tubs but I'm not sure which is better because the tubs go in recycling but thinner plastic doesn't. It also depends on how it peels too. Some of them have a separation you can grab onto and the adhesive is not too strong where you peel the entire top layer off. Super easy. If it doesn't peel easy though it's back to the knife/scissors problem and/or splashing meat/fish juice everywhere because of the exertion used. Sadly, I don't see them often enough to really consider them a widespread convenience.

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LOTDT@reddit

The best solution is to stop buying wafer-thin, pumped full of water, shit supermarket bacon.

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Embarrassed_Park2212@reddit

I don't have the strength to open those so just default to scissors or jab with a knife.

The ones that are similar with the little pull tab, usually it's how salmon fillets are packed, and it's like they've sucked the air out and you have to pull the tab to reintroduce air so it opens. Thems totally fuck me up because you have to peel them off to get them to release the food. Cutting them does nothing unless you go around the outside of the food item to release the air. It's rather a long explanation but if you've opened one you'll know what I mean.

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Rusty_Fish@reddit

I’ve worked in the packaging industry for a long time. The reason is, despite everyone’s frustrations that I completely empathise with, the higher ups are of the opinion that it’s better a seal be too strong than too weak. A bunch of packaging failing whilst on the factory floor, on a lorry, in a supermarket, on the consumers journey home etc is too much to commercially accept. So so they go all in on that seal. They are well aware of the consumer’s frustrations, and they are prepared to accept that.

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Pigflap_Batterbox@reddit

Microwave meals with pierce and then at halfway peel back and stir…

How! How the fuck do you do this when you can’t peel it from any of the four corners! Then you have to slice it and can’t cover it up properly. And things then overcook or burn.

Bloody Tesco.

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IndigoQuantum@reddit

Yes, in general don't think food manufacturers realise that the adhesive they use on the bit you're meant to open is actually 10 times stronger than the rest of the packaging

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FlippingGerman@reddit

I have heard that the problem of balancing glue or sealing temperature with packaging strength is really quite difficult.

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MrAnonymousTheThird@reddit

Best one is where the plastic is cut at the corner too. I can just pull from the hard plastic and it'll all peel off

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Embarrassed_Belt9379@reddit

Things have improved in Tesco in recent months.

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_a_m_s_m@reddit

Yeah, for bacon a lot of times, the corner isn’t cut properly & it really bothers me!

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colin_staples@reddit

The truth is that you DON'T WANT bacon packaging to be "easy open"

Why?

Because if it's easy open, it can be accidentally opened when you don't want it to.

And then the raw bacon juice inside the packet leaks out all over the rest of your shopping. And the open packet means the bacon goes off.

You don't want either of those things to happen

Packaging exists to keep the product sealed so that it doesn't spoil or leak, not for your convenience.

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KiwiNo2638@reddit (OP)

This is probably true. So why bother with the instructions?

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colin_staples@reddit

Now that's the question we should be asking

Stop describing the packets as "easy open" and the problem goes away

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Naughty-Stepper@reddit

Also note on the flat packs of bacon, designed to peel the wrong side if you only want to lift couple of rashers.

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Normal-Internal164@reddit

M&S mash…has anyone ever removed the plastic seal without a knife??

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YoungGazz@reddit

M&S are clearly in the pocket of Big Knife

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KiwiNo2638@reddit (OP)

{Inserts Crocodile Dundee gif}

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KiwiNo2638@reddit (OP)

Exactly this.

"half way through cooking time, peel film back, stir contents, and re-cover".

No peel. And re-covering with what? You are left with a cylinder of film. I like to cover it with cheese at that point.

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SpunkSacks@reddit

I gave up on the stirring half way through. Stir at the end.

But you’ve got to be careful of steam burn.

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Asleep-Art-5058@reddit

Nothing winds me up more than packaging that doesn’t perform like it should 😡

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

It’s like buying stuff that you’d realistically want to store in original packaging, tents never fit, Halfords Jack stands also don’t go in, I even looked at the second pair I bought and can’t close the box

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DameKumquat@reddit

I always assumed they were a gimmick designed to make it look like they had accessible packaging, but in reality it was just text printed on the same packing as before, expecting you to take a knife or scissors to it.

You're saying that in some cases people can actually peel the 'peel here' text?

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diyguitarist@reddit

My misses still tries bless her, I have a knife in my hand as soon as I take the packaging out the fridge. Momma didn't raise no fool.

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RedTheWolf@reddit

Touching raw bacon gives me the boke so I use a knife to slice the packet open but then to also lift the bacon rashers directly onto the oven tray (don't come at me, it's easier to bake it!) or into a tupperware or freezer bag (I keep a few frozen rashers at all times so I can always have a sarnie).

It also makes me feel like I am doing it on purpose and not because yet another thing in the world is totally shit and doesn't work properly 😅

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zig131@reddit

I actually reached out to the Bury Black Pudding company about this.

Apparently it is a choice between a good seal, that keeps the food fresher for longer, and an easy to remove and resealable seal.

The stronger seal probably also benefits the company due to being harder to damage in transit, so less wastage too.

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Ulybuly3@reddit

Reminds me of the video where they are talking about how much easier milk cartons are and the fella can’t open it, it goes everywhere. None of this stuff ever works.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

It is a tricky one as if they were too easy to peel, they could come loose. Also they may work at room temperature but not straight from the fridge. I can't remember the last time I even tried, just slice through it.

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keithbelfastisdead@reddit

Don't get my started on packets of ham that open from the wrong side.

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chaclarke@reddit

I actually know this one - food manufacturers cover the loss when a seal is broken, not the supermarket. Therefore, they ensure their packaging is like fort knox - less loses = better margins, = better prices for everyone

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Radiant-Mycologist72@reddit

The vacuum packed sainsbury minced beef packaging seemed to work really well for the first few months. Now I have to cut it like all the other packaging.

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Negative-Associate38@reddit

I bet the guys in the design & testing lab have no issues whatsoever opening it and just think the rest of us are utter losers with floppy chipolatas for fingers and the entire department looks down on us with scorn at how pathetic we all are.

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mata_dan@reddit

Well sort of, the initial package engineering works perfectly. Then some marketing person paid 8x as much decides to change everything to pretend the normal produce is "super fancy luxury farm brand" and changes the process and cheaps out.

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Key-Original-225@reddit

My favourite examples of this:

The peel here worked both times,

microwave meal, peel here peeled of excellently but left another clear barrier underneath that didn’t have a place to peel from

Pack of bacon, peel here was stubborn but worked, but was both under and above the bacon so I was left with a plastic shell and a condom full of bacon.

Brilliant

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snakeoildriller@reddit

Oven-heating that meal that says "peel film lid back halfway through cooking" but it's perma-bonded to the tray...

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KiwiNo2638@reddit (OP)

I've always preferred to fill my condom with sausage 😀

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GlamourousFireworks@reddit

I actually peeled a bacon packet open the other day! I was so shocked I called my husband in to witness it too 😂😂

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KiwiNo2638@reddit (OP)

I've got a friend who pays the photo to Facebook whenever he successfully manages to open any of this packaging. His bacon packet photos are about once every 3 months.

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Erivandi@reddit

Lidl is the worst for this. If you get a plastic box with a cellophane top, all of the edges will have loose flappy bits that look like they could be used to pull the top off, but no. All that happens is the edges peel away, leaving the box completely sealed. I occasionally get a box of large spring rolls from Lidl for lunch and I have to stab it with my keys to get it open.

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TheSmokedPotatoe@reddit

I can honestly say that I’ve never been able to open a pack of pre cooked poppadums, doesn’t matter which brand.

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Japhet_Corncrake@reddit

"Peel here" is the biggest lie ever told.

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Click_for_noodles@reddit

And on the off-chance they corner does actually peel, it curls up and refuses to stick down aagain. It's a conspiracy to keep us buying cling film. But yeah, I've wondered about this and this tabs that you have to break on lids that don't want to break either.

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Papervolcano@reddit

while we’re here, I’d also like it if the ‘pull here’ tab/flap bit was possible to grasp without tweezers. It might be possible to overcome the mechanical strength of the weld if I could grip more than 2mm of the top layer

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Jimquill@reddit

Look, its better this way as the food never leaks liquid.

Trust me, I live in a country where its not like this and its worse, you always have to worry about where the meat is in the shopping bag.

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EUskeptik@reddit

This irritates me enormously.

If it’s packed abroad, it works. You can open and reclose the pack several times and it seals.

If it’s packed in the UK it never works.

-##-

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SkillSufficient0@reddit

I sometimes wonder if it's my fingers that are faulty

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SpectreSingh89@reddit

I find all such packages easy to open never had this problem.

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YchYFi@reddit

Some of them do work. The cheaper supermarket ones never work for me.

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Jeoh@reddit

Skill issue

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TooLittleGravitas@reddit

Nope, definitely something that has changed in the last few months/years.

I never used to have a problem, now almost no 'peel here' corners work.

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