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Security Seals

by Michelle Weisblat-Dane

Why is it manufacturers feel they need to over-secure products to make them safe? Take, for instance, a bottle of aspirin. First you have to take the shrink-wrap off the box. Then you have to try to get the box open. This is imposable without ripping the box apart.

Now you have the bottle in your hands. Next comes the difficult task of getting the tamper resistant hard plastic shrink-wrap off. You know the one that holds the top to the bottom and “proves” that, if it is missing, someone must have gotten into the bottle. Never mind that it takes a knife and the skill of a surgeon to get it off.

This should be the end of it, but it isn’t. You now have to figure out how to get the child resistant cap off.  I don’t want them on my bottles. I don’t need them on my bottles. Beside which, only a child could have the cunning, dexterity and strength to get them off. So why do they insist of putting them on?

Now that you’ve gotten the top off, you are at the inner seal. As far as I’m concerned this should be the only seal needed. If this is torn or punctured, DON”T use it! There is no need for the rest of the seals. Of course getting this seal off also requires either a knife or very sharp fingernails to open or peel it back. Then comes the dreaded cotton that, no matter how hard you try, you can’t get out past the inner seal.

 I understand this all came about from the cyanide in the Tylenol™ capsules scare.  They don’t make capsules any more so you can’t hide other drugs in them. One seal is enough; you don’t need four. I think they’re carrying it to an extreme.

Drug manufacturers are not the only ones. I bought a bottle of Gatorade™. I had to remove the outer tamper resistant seal. I  then popped the sipper top safety cap and twisted the “sippy” top to open. I began to try to drink, expecting the cool refreshing liquid to run down my throat. Nothing came out. I tried twisting the top off and breaking the top safety seal. Underneath was yet another inner seal that I had to struggle to peel off the bottle. I replaced the top.

I had to go through all of this to be able to have a drink. Not like anyone would notice a small pinhole from hypodermic needle, near the top of the bottle. Not one of those precautions would prevent anyone from poisoning the Gatorade™. Don’t get any ideas!