The Hack For Evenly Distributing Salad Dressing On The Go

Anyone who enjoys salads knows one of the biggest difficulties with them is the dressing. Overdressing and underdressing aare both issues, but even if you get the amount right, getting it evenly applied to the salad is always a struggle. If you're at home and you've got a big bowl, you can mix to your heart's content, but what about if you're dealing with a packaged salad on the go? Those things are super convenient –– you can even turn pre-made salads into wraps –– but the dressing presents an issue. Mixing it normally will cause the ingredients to fly out everywhere, which isn't ideal if you're in a car. Those dressing packets are an absolute mess to deal with, so what do you do?

Well, if you're one woman on TikTok, you hack a solution using the edge of the container itself to drain the salad dressing packet quickly and easily. Sounds great, right? Not so fast. The internet's response to this hack reveals some potential food safety flaws.

Our story starts at Chick-fil-A, with a user going by the name @annette_freckles in a car holding a packaged salad. Annette starts the brief TikTok by asking the question, "Are you still pouring your dressing like this? Stop." Then she reveals the hack: She opens the dressing at one end, clamps that end in the side of the plastic container, and pulls. All the dressing gets squeezed out and distributed over the salad without any going to waste.

Just to be clear: This hack does work. If you want your pre-packaged salad dressing evenly distributed and the packet fully drained, it will accomplish that goal. But that's not what makes this a questionable idea, and it's not why people in the comments were divided over it. Sure, there were people who thought it sounded like a great plan, but plenty more who pointed out just how many germs this would introduce to your lunch.

The problem isn't that it's ineffective, it's that — as many commenters pointed out — you're basically inviting anyone who's ever touched that salad dressing packet to rifle through your lunch with their fingers. Dressing packets at Chick-fil-A aren't kept in sterile conditions. The outside of the package may come into contact with things you'd rather not eat. As a user named @ReaganDowdy commented: "From someone who worked there for six years, those get dropped on the ground and touched by everyone. Plz don't do this."

You have no idea what you're introducing to your salad if you do this. If you want to throw caution to the wind, that's your prerogative — just know you're taking some chances here. But it does work. And if you're comfortable taking that chance, you have every right to do so. Just be aware of the risks involved.