Kraft Salad Dressing Comes With Built In Mini-Shiv
Every time Kevin unscrews a new bottle of Kraft salad dressing, the sharp plastic hinge cuts him. This is good to know if you're in a supermarket and need to show another shopper that you're not to be messed with. It's also good to know if you're trying to unscrew a Kraft dressing bottle, we guess.
Kevin writes:
I seem to have a problem opening Kraft salad dressing bottles with the flip top cap. The last few bottles I have purchased ripped my finger open when I tried to open them, it happened again today in the work kitchen and I had several co-workers mention that they have been cut in the exact same way by these packages.
The problem seems to be in the flip cap. The hinge on the cap is razor sharp, which is not a problem when flipping open the cap. The problem is when you have to screw off the cap to remove the tamper resistant seal on the bottle. To do this you have to twist the bottle cap running your fingers over the razor sharp hinge resulting in a cut almost every time.
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Comments:
Get a better grip so your hand doesn't have to slide past the flip top lid.
I smell a lawsuit !
A creamy, buttermilk ranch lawsuit !
Could always use one of those rubber jar top opening mats. I have a couple and they really help with gaining some extra grip on stubborn lids. I presume this would cover the hinge as well.
I got punched in the face by a French's mustard bottle and kicked in the nuts by a jar of Vlassic pickles!
@madame_underpants: But it's Thousand Island dressing that's out for blood.
Think less buttermilk and more ketchup and tabasco plus the variety of nibbly bits that all salad dressings have.
just run a knife ofr a fingernail around the base of the cap to break the paper seal - you don't HAVE to twist the cap.
think outsicde the box here, people.
Here is a FREE helpful hint for you: Use a dish towel or rag when opening the item.
No need to thank me, but one would think you had learned your lesson after the first time...
That must be some awesome ass dressing to be repeatedly opening new bottles with the knowledge you are going to get cut. Try putting a small towel or even your shirt over the cap next time.
I just opened one of these bottles today. No slippage, no cuts. I cut the paper holding the screw cap in place, peeled it off, then the cap unscrewed without any problem.
Seems like I was one of the lucky few to get away from these bottles unscathed.
Hmmm the exact same thing just happened to me a couple days ago. I just make sure to cut the perforated portion first and then grab the top with a dish cloth while turning. My roommates enjoyed watching me do this.
After the second time, I think I'd try a different way of opening the bottle.
It's still a legitimate complaint though since it shouldn't happen at all.
I just went to open a new bottle of Kraft dressing to see if this was true.
I cut myself.
Must...not...blame...OP....
as long as the package is the same size...
I'm glad I'm not the only one! I've been doing it constantly since this bottle design came out!
Diced garlic from another manufacturer too!
Has happened to me also. The CoffeeMate creamer containers do it sometimes as well.
@mattwiggins: Well, you DO have to twist the cap, to take it off, to remove the seal under it. But using the knife method, you wouldn't have to twist off the cap with such force as to rip the paper.
I think I'm going to start my email to consumerist about cheese graters and how, as a child, I always scraped my knuckles and fingertips. Man, that smarted.
This is why I use my shirt to twist open bottles. You can give yourself blisters or cuts trying to open these things. As someone with small hands and lousy grip strength, I've had to devise a number of methods to open tightly sealed containers. Using a knife as a wedge often works, as does hot water, gloves, and banging it on the floor. The worst was the time I had to open a gallon container of Gatorade by wedging the edge of a nail file into the tiny space between the cap and the plastic ring and snapping each seal individually.
Dude use some common sense jeez... what the OP is doing is like trying to go down on an up escalator and then wondering why he is still on the second floor...
I hardly blame the OP ever but this dude is kinda of asking for it...
I have a bottle in my fridge and didn't get cut. Am I doing it wrong?
Kevin is a retard, I use Kraft dressing all the time and have never been cut.
@Gokuhouse: Open it with one of those rubber bottle-opener circles like I do. I'm weak. I didn't know my muscular weakness was saving me from being cut.
I actually have a scar on my left hand from one of these bottles. It doesn't matter where you place your hand, the fact is that the plastic of the hinge protrudes and is far too sharp.
I had to go to the doctor, because it took a serious chunk out of my palm. My doctor said that he's actually had multiple patients in for the same reason, all with Kraft salad dressing, all within the last two years.
Those of you who are claiming that you've never been hurt by this, whoopdedoo. Not everybody who doesn't wear a seatbelt dies in a accident, either. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean that it's not a consumer hazard.
@Gokuhouse: Also, you see the little bit of writing there on the label? The bit that says "Easy Open Peel?" Yeah, try peeling that off so that you don't have to try to tear the paper solely by twisting the cap off. That way, you won't have to worry about your fingers slipping across the hinge and getting cut.
Try this:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon finely minced white onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 dash of black pepper
Be very careful mincing the onion. Knives can be sharp.
Has MacGruber taught us nothing?
Rubber bands. Always use rubber bands.
1) Wrap one securely around the cap and offending protrusion
2) Twist until done twisting
3) Access bottle's creamy center
4) Dress salad
I recommend the big fat rubber bands commonly used for produce and/or postal needs. Usually free, too - Huzzah!
@Elcheecho: The bottle shows "Easy open peel" where it's supposed to twist open as well. I always take a butter knife and run it over that line and break the paper first, before I attempt to twist. The bottle design isn't the best, I'll agree to that, but the OP should of learned a better way to open it by now ;-)
Kraft needs to redesign that container and manufacturers need to take note that many of their products are hard to open and even more so for senior citizens. Kraft changed some of the ingredients in their mayo and salad dressings last year. They made a good product taste awful, and I'll never buy a product of theirs again. Does anyone else feel the same? Or is it just me?
@Ghede:
I'm tasting its savory goodness even now. I have this same exact bottle, but thankfully escaped harm.
How about not putting your finger there?
Quit blaming guy! I'm sure he KNOWS by now to expect an injury and is using a shirt/towel/rubber glove/whatever to cushion his hand before opening the shitty-flavored dressing that should he should be making from scratch anyway.
The point is that Kraft shouldn't produce packaging that so easily injures people -- however slightly. It's a design flaw. I don't smell a lawsuit; I smell a redesign.
I think the point is, why should anyone have to use/buy a special tool (or a towel) to open a simple salad dressing bottle? Most people do not associate salad dressing bottles with being a sharp object.
I hope that Kraft looks at this article as an opportunity to redesign the bottle to be a little safer for the consumer.
Ok, Kevin works at AIG? Citi? BoA? Can't tell. But for the luv of gawd, you need to peel the paper where it says "Easy Open Peel"!!
So some guy not figuring out the proper way to open salad dressing is news now? This is almost as bad as the "Help, my coffee mug gets hot when I microwave it" post we had a little while ago: [consumerist.com] .
Man is the only animal that trips over the same stone twice. Use a cloth or, as mentioned earlier, run a knife around the seal to cut the paper, making it easier to unscrew & avoiding ragged paper edges.
To the OP: You're doing it wrong.
Just take a knife, edge of the counter, pen, fingernail, etc. across the bottom edge of the cap to break the seal halfway THEN open it.
I've never cut myself on these. You have to cut the paper on the dotted line first. I don't think I've ever come into contact with the hinge at all.
Now that I've said that, watch me cut myself the next time I open one.
Is this a real problem? Never happened to me, and I have opened up enough salad dressing bottles that you would think it would have happened once to me. My guess is that Kevin works with a diminished mental capacity as do all the people he works with that have this problem.
I just cut the paper with a knife/etc. Less trouble, more efficient.
@Roxanne: What the hell do you mean it doesn't matter where you place your hand? I suspect you should be able to find some location to place it on the bottle that doesn't rip a chunk out of your hand. Just because you and Kevin do not know where to place your hands so you can open salad dressing safely does not make this a consumer hazard.
We make salads at work and use these same bottles of dressing, I have opened dozens of them and never noticed anything sharp when opening them.
I think that many may be trying to just twist the top off without pulling the tab which will tear off the label making the top very easy to turn so not needing force which may lead to the cuts. That looks like the case here, the bottle even instructs you to peel off the label and provides a tab to pull!
Don't follow instructions, get cut, read instructions, save yourself pain!
Death by a thousand islands?
@undefined: If you read the story, obviously he does NOT KNOW:
"The last few bottles I have purchased ripped my finger open when I tried to open them, it happened again today".
As you can see, this has happened SEVERAL times. He just doesn't get it.
@Dracoster: If I've learned anything from Avenue Q, it's that any time anyone says you can't put your finger somewhere, it'll shortly be followed by PUT YOUR FINGER THERE!
why do you have to run your finger over the hinge? shouldn't the hinge be attached to the top part that spins?