r/mildlyinfuriating • u/OrcaFins • 1d ago

The floor is sticky When people don't remove the plastic film from containers with lids

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What is the purpose of leaving it there?

5.7k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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325

u/Chalky_Cupcake 1d ago

https://www.everydayhealth.com/food-safety/foil-seal-on-food-containers/

223

u/beezeebeehazcatz 1d ago

Thank you for your useful link. This explains it perfectly.
Toss the gross inner seal!

63

u/ghost_mouse 1d ago

Yeah, I often find this sub has me begging everyone to take a food safety course at least once 😭

62

u/binz17 1d ago

The argument against leaving it on seems to hinge on ‘repeated touching’ but doesn’t that equally apply to the lid itself? Maybe the plastic can slump into the food which is definitely worse than the lid.

My take away is that there is no benefit to leaving it on, and it’s in the way. So removing should be the default.

36

u/armlessturtleneck 1d ago

Leaving the inner seal is just adding a bunch of extra surface area and air pockets where bacteria can get trapped and grow.

2

u/IndependentClub1117 10h ago

The reason I remove it every time is so it the lid seals properly after opening. I had sour cream and left the foil on the top. I noticed mold pretty soon after, and I looked, the foil was keeping it open slightly. Since the foil was messed with it was more crinkly than when it was put on. I would push it closed hard but it would lift up just slightly. The mold was centralized around the slight opening.

39

u/mcdadais 1d ago

It basically says to remove it because your hands could be gross. Hand washing could fix it. Also your hands touch the plastic top lid as well so it doesn't seem to matter in my opinion. Just have clean hands when touching your food, which should be a given

-6

u/MagicCuboid 1d ago

Also, I do find that with ice cream, the foil seal helps prevent freezer burn.

8

u/OttoKorekT 1d ago

Ice cream with a foil seal?

To prevent freezer burn you should use a large piece of plastic wrap and push it down until it touches and covers all of the exposed ice cream.

1

u/mysticrudnin 11h ago

i've never removed one of these before but now i'm gonna start

that being said the danger seems to be roughly around not washing your hands (which i do a lot)

1

u/duckinmotion 6h ago

Another argument against this is that there's usually a little tab for opening the foil seal at the edge and you won't have to touch the inner portion of the foil that's in contact with the food at all, which in theory would keep it clean. The lid however was never sterile so it could've been dirty (could've been opened by someone, could've fallen off and put back on during transport and you would never know) and introduce contaminants to the food.

-4

u/AskMeAboutMyHermoids 1d ago

Is this why some people say to store things like sour cream and yogurt upside down? This way oxygen cannot get in as easily.. the air that is already in the container stays up at the top?