Paper seals on margerine tubs etc...

[Carol Anne]

Im sick of my husband insisting on leaving the paper seal, or cartouche to give it it's proper name, on tubs of spread, cheese etc., once they are opened. He insists this will keep the product fresher, even though the thing has a close fitting lid and will be stored in the fridge. Half way through use ,this has become a wrinkly gunge covered mess, which I can stand no longer and eventually discard , to then have to listen to him tut tut for not bowing to his superior inteligence! Right or wrong I can't stand these things and would always want ot remove it completely when I open something. I can't see how it could possibly keep anything fresher than the tight lid and is more likely to be there for reasons of presentation and to prevent the product from perhaps discolouring while on the shelves.( Hubby agrees to go with majority on answerbank.)

[tony1941]

My wife drives me mad by doing the same thing, but she doesn't try to justify it!

[Loocfox]

Once opened throw it away, its not needed you have the lid for it that will keep it fresh. Its a man thing my hubby keeps it as well.

[gucciman]

i think your absolutely right in that once opened there is no need to keep the paper lid on anymore. as well as presentation i would guess the seal is there to offer some degree of protection in case someone in the shop before you bought it tried to tamper or contaminate it. and the tight fitting lid and fridge should indeed give it a long storeage life

[dannydingbat]

I would suggest that to keep a paper seal in place for sevela days or weeks is unhygenic as it will collect germs everytime it is moved.

[spudqueen]

I always throw the paper thing away, it's too messy to leave on.

[Carol Anne]

Five nil Five nil Five nil Five nil

Five nil Five nil,, la la la laaa laaaa :>)

[stevie21]

Six nil - put it in the bin. It literally is unhygenic to replace it.

[mimififi]

Carol Anne, he is only saying that and justifying this behaviour in this way, to sound more intelligent than you, and to disguise the plain fact that when he opens that tub, he is tooo darn lazy to take off the paper seal, walk over to the bin, open the bin, put the paper in, close the bin and walk back to the work top to complete his sandwich.

Bottom line, Mr Carol Anne, stop being so lazy, and bin the darn thing.

(It is unhygenic to keep opening and resealing - stop it!)

[shaneystar]

Nine -Nil
Yuk ! Yuk! Yuk !I It's just a bit of greaseproof...throw it away.

[Carol Anne]

Reckons he got the idea from a food hygiene video in the TA, but now concedes he 'might' have been wrong.

Thanks y'all, no more horrible buttery foils in this house from now on!

[Oneeyedvic]

Tis a tamper seal:

http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=51991

10 - 0

[Space]

the lid isn't always close fitting,
but then, neither is the paper once it's been open... so there isn't much point...
what does it protect from? light? the light turns off when you close the fridge... ( or does it? )

[VictrMeldrew]

Am I going to be the only one to support Carol Anne`s Husband?. It is perfectly obvious that the paper is there to be used, I have been doing it since these tubs were introduced. I must admit however, that my wife does moan - close your eyes now and you can probably hear her complaining - Victorrrrrr for goodness sake!. I cannot believe she gets in such a tizzy.

[copippin]

sometimes --though not often---the use-by-date is printed on the peel back cover but usually whatever it is ,is not around long enough to go out of date. Ditch it!!Eleven nil --I think!!!

[brachiopod]

It's not a male thing - my missus leaves the damn thing on too!

(But she also breaks the seal on a jar of instant coffee, and then doesn't remove all the paper. Now that annoys me - all it does is knock the grains of coffee off your teaspoon.)

[bigveg]

if your husband only lifts enough of said cartouche to extract sufficient sandwich material, he is actually keeping the rest of the stuff fresher because it is not exposed to air (which is full of the bacteria which cause decomposition). however, if he is lifting completely, then replacing, thats a bit pointless.

but i'm sticking up for the husband.

[Eddiecurrent]

Tell him to get rid of it! There should be no reason to leave the damn thing on! My missus does it and it drives me mental, she says it to stop bacteria, but I then pointed out that the fridge and lid do a pretty fine job.

[DirtyHabit]

Ditch the Husband, he's passed his "best by date" ;-)