New packaging type from Tetra Pak has been certified as Easy to use

New packaging type from Tetra Pak has been certified as Easy to use

Since 2005, the Swedish Rheumatism Association has been commissioned by Tetra Pak to test the handling of a number of their beverage packaging. At the end of last year, Tetra Pak had a new type of packaging tested, that hasn't been tested before, cartons for canned food.

-Many cartons for canned food are impossible to open with bare hands and are very hard to fold, says Professor Lena Lorentzen, who is responsible for carrying out the tests. - Both the design and the placement of the perforation plays a role in how it is to open the packaging, she says.

The Swedish Rheumatism Association's certification, Easy to use, is based on handling tests of packaging and products carried out by people with impaired hand function. The method has been scientifically reviewed and published. It is based on a group of 20 people with diagnosed impaired hand function performing each handling step of the packaging or product in question.

They assess how it was to perform the step on a 6-point scale from “Cannot perform the step”, “Very difficult”, “Quite difficult”, “Neither difficult nor easy”, “Quite easy” and “Very easy”. They also assess their hand functions and their ability to use the most common grips. We calibrate (compare) the results from the hand assessments against a reference group of over 100 people with impaired hand function to obtain a statistically reliable result.

If the average of the current test group is better in the hands than the reference group, we lower their assessment of the packaging correspondingly and if they are worse, we raise it instead. Therefore, in principle, it is always the reference group that assesses and thus fair between different test rounds.

In order for us to certify a product or packaging, all handling steps in the calibrated result must reach “Neither or” or easier.

-We are pleased to announce that these packages from Tetra Pak were approved as easy to handle by the test group and have thus been certified as Easy to use by us, says Stina Nordström, Secretary General of the Swedish Rheumatism Association.

Our packages are safe, easy to open and simple to use. We are pleased they now have been approved by the Swedish Rheumatism Association and are included in their long list of tested and approved Tetra Pak packages, says Eva Schiller, PR manager Tetra Pak Northern Europe.

The packages that were approved are the Tetra Recart® 390 Midi.

A list of Easy to use tested and certified products can be found here.