The meme, which has been circulating on social media, shows a photo of a foam food container with a plastic utensil poking from a hole in the corner. “At what age did you learn that these holes were made to hold your plastic fork and spoon?” the meme reads, with a laughing emoji following the question.
While some food containers do contain dips in the corners, they are for venting, not utensils. Biodegradable Food Tray
As explained on the site Cooking Light, air contains moisture and it condenses when it reaches a certain temperature, called the dew point. As food is put in a refrigerator or as hot food cools, it eventually reaches that point where the air can no longer hold in the water, and it lets out moisture. With nowhere else to go, that moisture collects on the lid of food containers and can drip down on food.
This can cause food to become soggy. According to a blog post by Genpak, a food packaging supplier, adding vents in food containers can prevent this by allowing steam to escape.
Some lids in food containers have holes for permanent venting. Other lids contain perforated tabs people can push down to allow the steam to escape. The tabs allow people to choose venting only for hot foods or to only vent a portion of the container.
Vents can also work in the same way if people reheat food in the container. In addition to disposable packaging, vents can be found on some plastic or glass reusable containers that allow people to microwave food in the container and prevent splattering.
So, while some vents may be perfectly sized to hold silverware, and some people may use them in that way, that wasn’t the intended use for the perforated tabs on takeout containers.
We rate this claim as FALSE. The holes on food containers are for venting, not utensils. Venting allows steam to escape and can prevent food from becoming soggy.
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Disposable Food Box Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.