If you've been in Cambodia for a while, you've probably noticed the ubiquitous use of staples to secure packaging of various products ranging from egg cartons to children's toys.
I've always been very careful to remove the staples from the stuff I buy, but the other day after carefully opening a packaged sandwich I noticed an errant staple stuck in one side of the bread itself.
I'm no medical professional, but it can't be good if I had inadvertently swallowed the staple and had it stuck in my intestine, instead.
I brought up the incident to the store owner the next time I visited the sandwich shop. She made a small joke about it and casually laughed off the incident.
It reminded of a time when a server at a nice PP restaurant placed a dish with a long strand of hair in the food. I informed her about the hair.
She stuck her fingers to remove it right in front of me and then told me, "It's not there anymore".
It's a very different world out here; you just can't take anything for granted.
Stapled food packagings
Good old western laws, but this is Asia.
I was truly shocked the first time I got a stapled package, but I was buying fried rice, a staple food, so I suppose it's okay.
Elastic bands are becoming more popular in Indonesia these days, so perhaps you could suggest that to a few vendors and see if they catch on.
Or transparent tape...it might be safer to swallow. Khmer folks have a tendency to follow fads. They see something that looks like a good idea or will bring in the profits, suddenly everyone in the country will be doing it. Not much creativity and ingenuity today compared to the past.
Ly
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