Food Packaging Intelligence...

[Ray!]

...or lack of. As most of you know, I love cooking, so buying ingredients is a big part of my life, especially Asian ingredients, which leads me to the topic at hand. For years I've noticed how Asian packaged products imported into Australia display not only intelligence in design, but also far greater emphasis on safety and health than do Australian products. Some of it is just so simple that It makes you wonder why aren't these ideas implemented in every product. Let's run through three of the most common food packaging options, to see what I mean:

Canned Products - Asian sourced canned products, by design, have a slightly smaller base than top, so that the cans will stack and hold because the base sits inside the top of the can. Australian based products, in the main, seem to have the base and top exactly the same size, so that stacking is a precarious option. The Asian design just makes stacking of cans so much easier.

Glass Jar Products - Asian sourced products all have not only the vacuum depression in the lid to indicate that the lid has not been tampered with, but they all have a plastic shrick wrap in addition, to clearly indicate if the lid has been opened. Australian based products, as far as I've ever seen, only have the vacuum depression to indicate tampering. The Asian design makes it much easier to see if tampering has occurred; whereas, with the Australian design, you may never notice tanmpering.

Glass/Plastic Bottle Products - The same principles apply to glass/plastic bottles as they do for glass jar products ie sealing option of lid/top and shrink wrap. Some products will have an internal cap that needs to be removed and then the plastic cap replaced for pouring. Australian products will usually only have the single sealing option.

Soft Pouch Packaging - Asian products all come in a double sealed pouch ie an inner and outer pouch for the paste or powder contained within. Australian products, again as far as I've seen, all come in just a single pouch. With the Asian product, the contents are far better protected and the contents likely to remain fresher for longer. With the Australian products, the single pouch design is far more vulnerable to damage and spoiling.

I've visited Asia on several occasions and these packaging options aren't just for imported products, it's the same for the domestic market. I sometimes wonder who is living in the third world.

Cheers

Ray

[bigbear]

I think its more to keep the asian food inside the container with the extra sealing, they eat some pretty whack stuff.

You only need to look at how they build houses and due to their population, they learned how to stack shit neatly a long time ago.

[Glort]

I don't have much issue with food packaging. What gets on my goat is F*#king blister packaging on small items that is about 30x30 Cm larger than the items itself.

You either nearly destroy the product or cut your hands to pieces trying to remove the product you bought before filling the bin with the crap that came with it that you don't want.

The one food packaging issue I have is plastic bags. They seal them up so when you go to pull the top open in the correct way, the bags require so much force that when they do yield, they do so with such suddenness that the contents are ejected all over your kitchen floor in a semi explosive fashion...

I think this may be a cunning plan to sell more product.

[Ray!]

See here: http://gizmodo.com/5...ossible-to-open.

I also agree about the blister packs, they are clearly so bad that you can even buy special cutters just to open these packages. A number of companies have apparently recognised the hatred for these packs and have stopped using them; more still needs to be done.

Cheers

Ray

Edited June 28, 2012 by Ray!

[heyhey]

Milo and Coffee tins do me in with the Aluminum sheet under the lid, I almost always end up slicing myself with it.

[Bogmeister]

I don't have much issue with food packaging. What gets on my goat is F*#king blister packaging on small items that is about 30x30 Cm larger than the items itself.

You either nearly destroy the product or cut your hands to pieces trying to remove the product you bought before filling the bin with the crap that came with it that you don't want.

The one food packaging issue I have is plastic bags. They seal them up so when you go to pull the top open in the correct way, the bags require so much force that when they do yield, they do so with such suddenness that the contents are ejected all over your kitchen floor in a semi explosive fashion...

I think this may be a cunning plan to sell more product.

They call this "child proof" lol

[Glort]

They call this "child proof" lol

Yeah, Like the bottles that my grandmothers life dependent medication came in that resisted her every effort to open.

She wasn't the only one in the neighborhood that couldn't get into their pills either.

[Bogmeister]

I have found that the best way to get into child proof packaging is get a kid to open them. I know that sounds like I am joking but its true.

[Rumcajs]

You going to find that these so called Asian packaging standards are actually Euro trash invention it is just that Asian are so good at copying everything and inventing nothing. In Australia we are ignorant folks and if it wasn't for Button plan we'd all be driving HQ Holdens or XF Falcons unabated.

The motto in here is "if it ain't broken don't fix it" and going to improved/better packaging means more cost impost on what is already last century production tech we seems to love so much here. (actually we used to buy leftovers/old stuff from mother England for years indeed we are probably still doing it.) Asians know and get Euro trash engineers to install/design latest tech so they can export back to Europe.

Cheers

[Brett]

I dont know if its just the fact that you shop at aldi but most Australian products do the things that you have listed aswell...

I have been to a few Asian countries aswell and agree that a lot of things are better done there but then realize that if it was here it would turn into a complete disaster due to who we all are...

Edited June 30, 2012 by Brett

[Ray!]

I dont know if its just the fact that you shop at aldi but most Australian products do the things that you have listed aswell...

I have been to a few Asian countries aswell and agree that a lot of things are better done there but then realize that if it was here it would turn into a complete disaster due to who we all are...

We actually shop at Aldi, Coles and Woolworths, as well as Asian grocery stores. I was just looking in our pantry, looking at the various products, when it struck me once more how the packaging differs so much.

Cheers

Ray

[Glort]

I have found that the best way to get into child proof packaging is get a kid to open them. I know that sounds like I am joking but its true.

I agree Whole Heartedly.

Same as if you want the Computer Fixed or the timer on the DVD/ Video set.

My son got to drive his Uncles New Mercedes Convertible the other week for setting the clock on the thing that had even defied the dealers attempts.

Deal was you set the clock, you can take it for a drive.

Clock setting did take a good 10 min, drive took a lot longer!

One thing with asian meals is they make cheap MRE's ( meals ready to eat) for hiking etc.

Some you just throw into hot water to warm them up, others you just add boiling water. They are of course always asian style meals but you can get them for a few bucks in the asian grocery shops where the " Proper" MRE's cost a fortune.