# Sauce Packets **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907 "2022-04-16T03:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/21 "2022-04-16T18:31:09Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Mexican taquerias have big communal bowls of salsa, with spoons. Too unhygienic for the US? California taquerias typically have a “salsa bar” with several bowls of different styles of salsa that you can ladle into little condiment cups. Or at least they did before the pandemic. I can’t imagine it’s any less hygienic than the dressings at the end of a typical American salad bar. One place I frequent had both paper and plastic cups for the salsa, and they encouraged customers to use the compostable paper cups if they were eating in the restaurant, and to only use the plastic cups if they were taking their order to go. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/22 "2022-04-16T19:03:43Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I think you’re misinterpreting the article. They mean it will biodegrade in 4-6 weeks once in the dump. While stored properly it should hold up without issue. You are correct about what they say. I’m kind of skeptical that an edible container will hold up under all realistic storage conditions. You can get a box of conventional PC’s soaking wet and just dry them off without harm, and finding an open one leaking in the box is common enough. But hey, if they have worked that out then more power to them. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/23 "2022-04-16T21:02:58Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > > [@What\_Exit](#): > > > > I think you’re misinterpreting the article. They mean it will biodegrade in 4-6 weeks once in the dump. While stored properly it should hold up without issue. > > You are correct about what they say. I’m kind of skeptical that an edible container will hold up under all realistic storage conditions. I’m kind of skeptical that they’ll break down in the dump. Not a hell of a lot breaks down in a modern dump; at least at any reasonable rate of speed. The article does read as if they might break down if they don’t wind up in the dump, though. Not clear to me whether any byproducts of the coating would remain. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/24 "2022-04-16T21:23:43Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’m kind of skeptical that they’ll break down in the dump. Not a hell of a lot breaks down in a modern dump; at least at any reasonable rate of speed. That’s a whole nother matter to discuss when people are trying to save the world. The bottom layer of dumps used to be filled with disposable diapers and newspapers. At least the newspapers are much less of a problem now even without recycling. I don’t know what’s harmful about the packets either. Isn’t everything in the dump going to turn into some interesting looking sedimentary rock in about a million years? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/25 "2022-04-16T21:25:33Z")
What we’re going to leave behind, as a species, is plastic bits embedded in a geological layer. This may puzzle some future creatures. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/26 "2022-04-16T21:32:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > No way will restaurants buy PCs (personal condiments in the biz) that only last 6 weeks. Sure, they’ll run through the ketchup packets in that time, maybe soy sauce for an Asian food, but most other condiments don’t get restocked as often. The large chains are buying these things by the truck load, it could take them 6 weeks to get distributed to the individual locations. I have most of a case full of honey PCs and I would hate ending up with a gelatinous glob of seaweed and honey in a box but at least it wouldn’t be leaking liquid like with soy sauce and other packets. The article says that the seaweed-based condiment packet material will biodegrade in four to six weeks. That’s not to say that they’re going to biodegrade sitting on the shelf. _Some_ biodegradable products only degrade in an industrial composting facility, not in a home composting pile. The industrial facilities may use higher temperatures and pressures than a backyard compost pile can achieve. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/27 "2022-04-16T21:35:29Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’m kind of skeptical that they’ll break down in the dump. Not a hell of a lot breaks down in a modern dump; at least at any reasonable rate of speed. I suspect that 4-6 week figure is referring to an industrial composting facility, not a landfill. Or _maybe_ a good, active, backyard compost pile. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/28 "2022-04-16T22:12:05Z")
I wouldn’t get too hung up on that particular product. There are others being developed. That was just the first one I Googled up this morning looking for a cite for myself. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/29 "2022-04-16T23:10:38Z")
Wendy’s tried a thing recently where they gave you these ketchup packets that were half-packet half-dipping cup and those were really handy and helped end waste because you only needed to use one packet for your fries not open 3 packets. Unfortunately they seemed to have gone back to normal packets at least in my area. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/30 "2022-04-17T13:59:39Z")
Not familiar with those. Could you describe them, @Asuka ? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/31 "2022-04-17T17:42:21Z")
[This is what I’m talking about.](https://nypost.com/2011/09/19/heinz-creates-new-dip-and-squeeze-ketchup-packet/) They were actually really handy. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/32 "2022-04-17T17:48:48Z")
I wonder if that uses less plastic than 3 packets would. It kind of looks like a tiny plastic dish of sorts with a peel off top. I have no idea how much plastic either package uses, but that looks like a design that’s rather heavy on the plastic. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/33 "2022-04-17T18:21:30Z")
That New York Post story mentions that the “Heinz vice president of global packaging innovation and execution” tested the product by buying a used minivan and going to drive-thrus to test the product with fast-food french fries. I’m not sure why he needed a used minivan for that; couldn’t he just have driven his own car? Or didn’t he want to smell up his car with french fry grease? And the product is available on Amazon; about a hundred dollars for 500 units or about twenty cents each. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/34 "2022-04-18T15:55:06Z")
Yeah, Chick-Fil-A has those, as well. I don’t know what their environmental impact is compared with the regular plastic packets, but they sure as hell are a lot more handy to use. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/35 "2022-04-19T17:23:24Z")
I hate it when they throw in all of those packets. It’s such a waste. I’m usually bringing the food home so we have our own condiments (I personally don’t use any!). I feel wasteful and guilty throwing them away. I used to save them until one day I noticed I had a gallon size zip-loc full of them. Then I threw them all out. They should just ask if you want condiment packets. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907/36 "2022-04-20T07:41:18Z")
I’ve often chosen Whataburger over other burger joints bc Whataburger has the rip & dip packets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauce-packets/962907.md?page=1)