Supermarket food packaging

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Dressinggown
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Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Tue Sep 02, 2025 9:32 pm

Yet another rant.

Yes, there will be alternatives but for many of us a supermarket meal is a quick and easy solution.

Or it should be.

I would not class myself as elderly but I am approaching that period in my life. However, I am finding it increasingly impossible to access some of these 'Ready Meals'.

Just peel back the film lid and stir once you have pierced the lid and cooked it for the required time.

Peel back the film. My arse. The outer rim then just peeles away, leaving the rest of the contents still inside the packaging.

Hacking at it with a Claw Hammer can be a solution but not always advisable.

Beagle
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Beagle » Tue Sep 02, 2025 9:33 pm

Don’t get me started on those sealed (so-called resealable) packages of bacon!

Taffy on the wing
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Taffy on the wing » Tue Sep 02, 2025 9:37 pm

The whole thing needs rethinking ........single use plastics should be recyclable or they shouldn't exist!

Rant over!
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Croydon Claret
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Croydon Claret » Wed Sep 03, 2025 8:19 am

Every home needs one of these. Spot the design fail :?
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tarkys_ears
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by tarkys_ears » Wed Sep 03, 2025 9:33 am

Do you own a knife?

Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Wed Sep 03, 2025 9:39 am

Yes, but I removed the end of my thumb attempting to sort out a Chicken Madeira with Mushroom Rice.

CleggHall
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by CleggHall » Wed Sep 03, 2025 9:48 am

Agree with all this, non-openable packaging is far too common these days but don’t get me started on tinned corn beef!

Pickles
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Pickles » Wed Sep 03, 2025 9:57 am

In Hong Kong, each individual strawberry/grape/apple is/was wrapped.

Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Wed Sep 03, 2025 10:21 am

Tinned Corned Beef.

Likely to lose a limb or two.
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Clovius Boofus
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Clovius Boofus » Wed Sep 03, 2025 11:29 am

I bet leaving the house is a real trauma some of you. :lol:
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Burnley1989
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Burnley1989 » Wed Sep 03, 2025 11:55 am

CleggHall wrote:
Wed Sep 03, 2025 9:48 am
Agree with all this, non-openable packaging is far too common these days but don’t get me started on tinned corn beef!
SPAM is another :lol:

gawthorpe_view
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by gawthorpe_view » Wed Sep 03, 2025 12:55 pm

The biggest lie in retail - Peel and Reseal.

Jel
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Jel » Wed Sep 03, 2025 1:42 pm

Dressinggown wrote:
Wed Sep 03, 2025 10:21 am
Tinned Corned Beef.

Likely to lose a limb or two.
The secret to safely opening corned beef, is to take the paper off the tin 1st. Rolling the tin and paper onto the opener is a disaster waiting to happen.

Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Wed Sep 03, 2025 1:58 pm

Clovius Boofus wrote:
Wed Sep 03, 2025 11:29 am
I bet leaving the house is a real trauma some of you. :lol:
It's slightly easier than trying to make a cheap meal.

Perhaps not, depending where you live.
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RMutt
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by RMutt » Wed Sep 03, 2025 2:07 pm

And then there’s the plastic they use for bags of rice, lentils and so on. It’s a sort of brittle less flexible plastic that you need to open with the care of a surgeon or the bag immediately rips from top to bottom spilling the contents everywhere. They only seem to use it for bags where the spilt contents take an age to clear up.
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Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Wed Sep 03, 2025 3:59 pm

Perhaps it's time to catch and eat anything that vaguely move.

Old Aged Pensioners or kids on public transport ?

Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Wed Sep 03, 2025 4:11 pm

The plastic containers that you put in the microwave are hotter than the Sun when you attempt to retrieve them, yet the contents are barely lukewarm.

equinox
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by equinox » Wed Sep 03, 2025 4:31 pm

Is there anything more dangerous this side of Africa than a tin of Tuna with a peel back lid?

equinox
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by equinox » Wed Sep 03, 2025 4:37 pm

Just seen the Corned Beef reference, similar.

Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Wed Sep 03, 2025 4:52 pm

Tripe, Pigs Trotters, Sheep Brains and any sort of offal could be the answer. Just wack into a pan of boiling water.

I'm sure that the jury might be in a bit of a stalemate over this proposal.

Possibly not. Scorching hands is the only way to go..

Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Wed Sep 03, 2025 4:55 pm

You need at least a gallon of vinegar for Tripe.

Taffy on the wing
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Taffy on the wing » Wed Sep 03, 2025 5:14 pm

Pickles wrote:
Wed Sep 03, 2025 9:57 am
In Hong Kong, each individual strawberry/grape/apple is/was wrapped.
I've seen individually wrapped bananas over here......sheer madness!

tarkys_ears
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by tarkys_ears » Wed Sep 03, 2025 6:49 pm

equinox wrote:
Wed Sep 03, 2025 4:31 pm
Is there anything more dangerous this side of Africa than a tin of Tuna with a peel back lid?
Not if you ask my missus.

She's got a massive scar on her hand from trying to feed a stray cat a tin of tuna when she was ******

karatekid
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by karatekid » Wed Sep 03, 2025 7:01 pm

What about manual potato peelers? Guaranteed to take skin off potatoes and your hands.

Rowls
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Rowls » Wed Sep 03, 2025 7:03 pm

karatekid wrote:
Wed Sep 03, 2025 7:01 pm
What about manual potato peelers? Guaranteed to take skin off potatoes and your hands.
What do you mean by 'manual potato peelers'? Is there an automatic variety?

How do you take skin off with a potato peeler???
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dougcollins
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by dougcollins » Wed Sep 03, 2025 7:05 pm

Rowls wrote:
Wed Sep 03, 2025 7:03 pm
What do you mean by 'manual potato peelers'? Is there an automatic variety?

How do you take skin off with a potato peeler???
Fish shops have machines where you pour potatoes in one end, and chips come out of the other.

Rowls
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Rowls » Wed Sep 03, 2025 7:23 pm

dougcollins wrote:
Wed Sep 03, 2025 7:05 pm
Fish shops have machines where you pour potatoes in one end, and chips come out of the other.
Yes but surely nobody has one of these at home???

blackbulllad
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by blackbulllad » Wed Sep 03, 2025 7:46 pm

I've found scissors work better than trying to peel. I just cut straight through the film and it saves the frustration. Still ridiculous though – packaging should be easy to open, not a mini workout

Clarets4me
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Clarets4me » Fri Sep 05, 2025 7:57 am

Taffy on the wing wrote:
Tue Sep 02, 2025 9:37 pm
The whole thing needs rethinking ........single use plastics should be recyclable or they shouldn't exist ! Rant over!
Asda, Tesco, Co-op and Sainsburys all accept soft plastics for recycling, however the last documentary I saw on the subject put ten tracking devices on bags and most ended up in Poland being used as fuel in a cement works. That said, better that than it going to land-fill ...

Clovius Boofus
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Clovius Boofus » Fri Sep 05, 2025 8:52 am

Clarets4me wrote:
Fri Sep 05, 2025 7:57 am
Asda, Tesco, Co-op and Sainsburys all accept soft plastics for recycling, however the last documentary I saw on the subject put ten tracking devices on bags and most ended up in Poland being used as fuel in a cement works. That said, better that than it going to land-fill ...
Yeah, at least it's being reused, unlike all the so-called recycling plastic we send to some countries, where it ends up in illegal dumps, causing environmental damage to land, rivers and our seas.

Rowls
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Rowls » Fri Sep 05, 2025 11:03 am

Idea for a TV programme:

The Great British Supermarket Food Packaging Challenge

A group of contestants (celebrities?) attempt to open foodstuffs without the aid of knives or scissors. Presented by Vernon Kaye.

Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Fri Sep 05, 2025 12:10 pm

Presented by Venison Cock ?

Foshiznik
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Foshiznik » Fri Sep 05, 2025 12:21 pm

The worst culprit is Morrisons. Heaven forbid you don't microwave and use the recommended oven cooking instructions, they fail to also advise that when taking it out of the oven, the plastic container will either soften to the point that its impossible to pick up without turning it inside out and therefore pushing the contents out of the container or it becomes so brittle that it cracks from just a slight knock on the oven door.

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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by ŽižkovClaret » Fri Sep 05, 2025 12:33 pm

Over here they now do bacon on a flat piece of card, with one layer of plastic coating the board, and then another over the bacon, sealing it in. You then peel the plastic off and recycle each part easily.

Can't possibly imagine why you haven't got similar innovation there.....

Dressinggown
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Dressinggown » Fri Sep 05, 2025 12:50 pm

Once you have 'cooked' your 'Finest' Prawn Linguine in the microwave please don't tell me that you remove it with your bare hands.

Oven gloves only means some form of insurance claim on your kitchen floor although your cat might prefer it for a pack of Felix.

elwaclaret
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by elwaclaret » Fri Sep 05, 2025 4:20 pm

What people seem to miss is that this all came in after there was a spate of food tampering attacks at supermarkets. Like the pressurised caps they are made to be tamperproof.

Taffy on the wing
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Re: Supermarket food packaging

Post by Taffy on the wing » Fri Sep 05, 2025 6:11 pm

Clarets4me wrote:
Fri Sep 05, 2025 7:57 am
Asda, Tesco, Co-op and Sainsburys all accept soft plastics for recycling, however the last documentary I saw on the subject put ten tracking devices on bags and most ended up in Poland being used as fuel in a cement works. That said, better that than it going to land-fill ...
Apart from the toxins released when it's burned.......it's a massive global problem.
The latest Attenborough movie shows many of the reasons why we need to act & quickly.

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