Why Japanese Sauce Packets Are So Much Better Than The American Version

People like to say the Japanese are living in the future and we agree. In Japan, the public restrooms have bidets that sing to you and high speed bullet trains connect different parts of the country. And then, there are these nifty sauce packets that are so much better than the American version. We're not talking about Japanese sauces like wasabi or teriyaki sauce, no. We're talking about sauces like ketchup and mustard, those random fast food sauce packets that you store in your kitchen junk drawer. 

It's not that flavor or texture that makes Japanese sauces better, but the way they're designed. In America, when we get sauce packets from spots like Taco Bell or Wendy's we need to use two hands to first, open the packet and then squeeze the sauce out. In Japan, using just one hand, you can both open and squeeze the sauce out conveniently onto your food, like fries, salad, or a hotdog. Over on TikTok Jeff Kim of @thecrunchbros shows off a combination sauce packet that includes both ketchup and mustard. After purchasing a hotdog from a FamilyMart in Japan, one of the many snacks you can find at Japanese convenience stores, Kim cracks open the sauce packet with one hand and proceeds to spread both mustard and ketchup seamlessly over his hotdog with the same hand. 

Whether he was opening the sauce packet or squeezing it with gusto, you don't see any mess on Kim's hand and all of the sauce appears to come out of the packet, leaving little waste. Kim's friend, Soy Nguyen of @foodwithsoy, shows how easy it is to squeeze all types of sauce onto food using just one hand, including a packet of salad dressing into a cup of McDonald's salad, and mayo onto Japanese salad. 

Back in the U.S., we continue rip small sauce packets from fast food chains and restaurants using two hands, and sometimes our teeth or scissors. Squeezing the sauce out also requires two hands, at most times. And we don't know about you, but we've often gotten sauce all over our hands (sometimes faces) and elsewhere. We blame the design of American sauce packets, rather than our own clumsiness. 

And here's the irony — these amazing Japanese sauce packets are actually an American invention by Sanford Redmond who created the DispenSRpak. Redmond's visionary invention won him awards. He sold his patent rights to Mitsubushi and the rest is history. Now, Japan has adopted, and perfected, the design of these nifty sauce packets you see foodies squeezing gleefully during their trips across Japan. And meanwhile, here in the U.S., we're continuing to fumble with outdated sauce packets and messy, sticky fingers.