Food packaging for parents

So, food packaging. 

Or just packaging in general, but food packaging is my minor gripe.  Usually because there’s a toddler hanging off me or climbing up on chairs to open the fridge and remove something to ease his ‘I’m hungry’ plea.

I know food manufacturers have reasons for making their packaging the way they do.  I’ve worked for manufacturers on new products, I’ve worked with retailers so understand their needs.  I’m a shopper and consumer so know what they like and don’t like about packaging.  And now I work for a company who’s all about resource efficiency, so obviously packaging is way up their agenda to reduce waste.

But packaging really doesn’t allow for parents trying to open it while having young children around.

If you’re holding a child back and trying to remove something from the fridge, the items really need to be securely packed.  That means a lid.  Not like I’ve found on many an occasion, like blueberries which N loves;  they have a film lid.  All very well for a one use pack, but when N’s the only person in the house to eat them, either for snacks or on cereal, it means we dip in every day.  So if he’s grabbing at food in the fridge and I’m trying to hold him off while taking said opened pack out of the fridge…well, I think I need more fingers to count the number of times the blueberry pack has toppled and shot blueberries all over the kitchen floor.  I dread to think how many unreachable and now mouldy ones are living underneath our fridge!  So some kind of lid would be helpful, otherwise I’m going to have to start decanting soft fruit into Tupperware in the hope of keeping it upright.

In a similar vein, there’s yoghurts – easily dropped, especially when a child’s trying to open before transferring to the table; cartons of cream, the list goes on.

Crisp packets are another non-child friendly package.  Obviously easy for adults to open, but if you’re not quick enough, if the child is anything like N, a parent’s back is turned and they’re in the cupboard getting out scissors to cut the packs open.  At least now he’s very neat at doing that, but many a time I panicked as I saw him trying to pull them apart, and thinking we’d end up with crisps everywhere.

Then there’s bags of apples, done up with those silly sticker ties (bread too).  I usually just make a hole to get the fruit out, but N thinks they’re like loaves of bread and spends time bruising apples trying to open up the sticker closure.  Never going to happen child!  But I feel for the apples.  Thankfully, he’ll eat apples whether bruised or not, especially if they’re chopped up.

Then if we move away to food into the realms of security casing for scissors, knives, toiletries, you know the kind where you need the item inside to get into the plastic outer.  Argghhh, if N helps with unpacking our online delivery it’s a worrying time for me as he’s always interested in strange packaging and knows that a pair of scissors or knife will get him access.  I’m trying to teach him to wait and not just grab things himself if I’m taking longer than he’d like, but you can’t deny N food or interesting goodies for long!

Do you have issues with food packaging around children?  Or is it just me that sends food shooting across the floor in spectacular fashion?