It has all the making of a late-night infomercial… How many times has this happened to you? [Cut to black-and-white footage of a hand struggling to twist open a pickle jar.] Running hot water over the lid wastes time and energy! Digging at it with a knife could leave you injured! [Cue video of someone stabbing their hand with a red "X" over it.] But with the patented Eeasy Lid, opening tough jars is just a click away!
The patented Eeasy Lid is real—announced this week by Consumer Convenience Technologies (CCT) as a "breakthrough innovation [that] takes the struggle out of opening a jar" and billed as "the first major jar lid advancement in 75 years." In case you were wondering like me, CCT claims the last big advancement was the invention of the "twist-off" lug closure by White Cap. That's some jar trivia for you!
CCT's concept is simple: The lids—which can be manufactured to fit any jars—have a button right in the middle (not dissimilar in appearance from the "safety button" that already exists on many lid); when the button is pressed, a tiny slit is opened, breaking the vacuum seal and making the lid "up to 40 percent easier" to open. Then, before putting the lid back on, simply snap the button back into place from the inside, close the jar up, and use the button again the next time the lid needs opening.
"It's a simple solution to an issue people have been dealing with for decades," James Bach, CCT managing partner, said in the announcement. "Once people try it, they're hooked."
CCT also points out that opening jars can be more than just a nuisance: According to their numbers, 30 percent of the population can't open a jar at all whether due to "arthritis, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, recovering from a surgical procedure, or just growing older." The company says these issues are actually what inspired the lid to begin with—and remarkably, it took eight years of development to get it right. "Whether it's about convenience or inclusivity, the Eeasy Lid provides consumers a much better experience when they're making dinner or grabbing a snack," Bach added.
If you can't wait to literally get your hands on a jar with an Eeasy Lid, the company says they will debut this January when Pennsylvania-based Boyer's Food Markets will begin using them on their Darci's brand pasta sauce in all 18 of their locations. After that, "CCT is talking with national brands, grocery chains and packaging companies as it rolls the product out at the national and international levels." In the meantime, you'll just have to keep that hot water a-runnin' and those knives a-stabbin'!
