Frum brands are being asked to make “Shabbos-friendly packaging” with fewer letters

The letter represents a potential Shabbos erasure Melaka, at least according to many poskim, and now a vocal Jew is calling on companies to make more “Shabbos-friendly” packages that will feature ample space. without letters.

Twitter account “Frum Tiktok” posted:

“A request to all Kosher/Heimish food companies: Please make your products Shabbos friendly so we can open them without tearing off any letters. Any company that would have Shabbos-friendly packaging would be rewarded by consumers.â€

Does any post allow destructive cutting of letters for the purpose of obtaining food?

Well, there is an Igrot Moshe YD 2:75 (left side, one paragraph before the end) where R’ Moshe writes (as summarized by R Doniel Yehudah Neustadt):

“The ban applies –

— Frum TikTok (@FrumTikTok) June 5, 2024

Of course it begs the question, why DON’T companies just make packaging that avoids this problem? It certainly seems plausible.

The Twitter startup then engages in a detailed discussion of whether there are posts that allow paper tearing, as it is done without intent. (Rama in OC 340 famously forbids cutting a letter cake, which is very comparable to this scenario and apparently a source for forbidding it.)

Either way, one wonders if there is a specific reason companies don’t make Shabbos-friendly packages, as this is a source of frustration for many parents. In addition, it can lead to Shalom for Melacha to be done on Shabbos.

(It should be noted that there seems to be less concern about tearing images or photos in packs, however it’s not clear why, as there seems to be a “mechika” problem with images as well. This seems to be being addressed by Dagul Me’rvava regarding Matzos that had drawings on them)

Hopefully the fruit food companies will respond to this request, and even better, it would be great if they changed their packaging to accommodate this serious issue.