Are you opening sugar packets wrong? Here's the right way
Sugar packets are an essential component in every restaurant and café. With these small packets, you can sweeten your favorite drink with the precise amount of sugar you prefer. However, it turns out that many people don't know the correct way to open a packet. Check if you are doing it right.
Sugar packets have become an integral part of the experience when visiting a café or restaurant. Their convenient form allows guests to decide how much sweetener to add to their coffee or tea independently. Surprisingly, not everyone knows how to open a packet without spilling sugar on the table.
Where did sugar packets come from?
Sugar packets first appeared in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. At that time, restaurants provided customers with sugar bowls and glass dispensers, which were often seen as unhygienic. This inconvenience with open sugar containers led to the innovation of practical packets.
The idea of creating single-use sugar packets occurred to entrepreneur Benjamin Eisenstadt. Involved in the tea industry, Eisenstadt thought that packaging sugar in small containers could be similar to the tea-packing process. This would make it much more convenient to transport sugar and add it to a drink.
How to open sugar packets?
Although opening sugar packets seems simple, it's common for the contents to spill onto the table or floor during the tearing process instead of landing in the cup. People often try to tear off one end of the packet and then pour the sugar into the cup. In fact, this is a mistake; the small sugar packet should be opened differently.
How should you open a sugar packet? Hold the packet over the cup and break it in the middle, bringing the ends of the packet together. This method ensures the entire contents of the packet land where intended.
What happens to unused sugar packets?
Dining establishments have strict guidelines for products that have been placed on a table. Even though the packets are factory-sealed, health regulations don’t permit their reuse. Unfortunately, these rules mean that every unused packet goes straight into the trash. This represents a waste of sugar and an unnecessary use of resources for packaging.
In large restaurants, hundreds of packets may be discarded daily. Even though this practice aligns with sanitary standards, it raises concerns about the waste of products that could still be utilized.
Remember to take any unused sugar packets with you. You can use the sugar at home or while on the go. Otherwise, the packet you picked up when ordering a drink will end up in the trash.
