Sealed crustless sandwich facts for kids
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A sealed crustless sandwich with peanut butter and jelly filling (mass-produced)
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| Type | Sandwich |
|---|---|
| Course | Lunch, Snack |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Main ingredients | Bread, various fillings |
A sealed crustless sandwich is a special kind of sandwich. It has a yummy filling, like peanut butter and jelly, tucked between two pieces of bread. The edges of the bread are pressed together, or crimped, to seal the filling inside. Also, the crust is cut off!
You can make these sandwiches at home. People often use tools like a fork or a special "cut and crimp" tool to seal the edges. Homemade ones can be square, round, or triangle-shaped. You can use different kinds of bread, like white or whole wheat.
Many sealed crustless sandwiches are made in factories. These are usually wrapped individually, frozen, and sold in stores. They first appeared in 1995 with peanut butter and jelly. Since then, many companies have started making them.
These sandwiches are super handy! They are easy to freeze and thaw, ready to eat, and simple to take with you anywhere. One person called them "the Swiss Army knife of foods" because they are so useful. They are popular with people of all ages and are great for school lunches. In 2018, these sandwiches were even given to firefighters during the California wildfires.
Contents
How Sealed Sandwiches Are Made
In the United States, the first mass-produced crustless sealed sandwiches came out in 1995. Two people, David Geske and Len Kretchman, started making them in Fargo, North Dakota. Their company, Incredible Uncrustables, sold about 35,000 sandwiches every day by 1998. The J.M. Smucker Company bought their company in 1998. In Japan, a company called Yamazaki Baking has been selling similar sandwiches called Lunch Pack since 1984.
Companies make these sandwiches in many shapes, like squares, triangles, circles, and even cloud shapes! They also come with lots of different fillings. You can find ham and cheese, chocolate-hazelnut spread, almond butter and jam, or many kinds of peanut butter and jelly. For peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some companies put peanut butter on both sides of the bread first. This helps stop the jelly from making the bread soggy. They also design the bread and use special sealing methods to prevent leaks.
Here are some popular brands of mass-produced sealed crustless sandwiches:
- Chubby Snacks
- Crustless Cocoa CPB Sandwich by E-S Frozen Foods
- EZ Jammers by Albie's Foods
- Gallant Tiger
- Good & Gather Sunbutter and Jelly Sandwiches by Target
- Jammies by Sunbutter
- Lunch Buddies PB Delights by Aldi
- Luv Me Foods Organic Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jelly Sandwich
- Market Pantry Crustless Sandwiches by Target
- PB Jamwiches and PB Jamz by AdvancePierre Foods
- Pea B&J Pockets by Annie's
- PB&J sandwiches by Sam's Club and Welch's
- Wowbutter & Grape Jelly, Crustless Sandwiches, by Nature's Promise
- No Crust Sandwiches, by Walmart
- PB + J Crustless Sandwiches and Charlotte's Crustoffs, by Costco
- Sunwise sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches by Muffintown
- Uncrustables, by Smucker's
- Whistlin Sams by Tyson Foods
Smucker's Uncrustables are very popular. They have plants in Kentucky, Colorado, and Alabama. In 2021, their sales were expected to reach $500 million! They also offer different kinds, like Ham and Cheddar Bites and Pepperoni Bites. Smucker's spent about ten years making sure their sandwiches didn't leak. They designed the bread to avoid air pockets and used round loaves.
Chubby Snacks is another company that started in 2020. They make their sealed sandwiches in a "cloud" shape. They use organic, whole wheat bread and natural sweeteners instead of refined sugar.
Protecting the Idea
Companies often try to protect their unique products and ideas. Smucker's, a very large company, has sent letters to smaller businesses. They claimed that making round, crustless sealed sandwiches was copying their idea.
For example, Chubby Snacks changed their sandwiches to a cloud shape. Albie's Foods changed their EZ Jammers to a triangle and then a square shape. Another company, Gallant Tiger, makes sandwiches with unique flavors for adults. Even though their sandwiches cost much more than Uncrustables, Smucker's still sent them a letter.
The founder of Gallant Tiger said it was strange. He felt like Smucker's saw his small company as a "criminal" even though they were very different. He compared it to how you can tell the difference between Domino's and Pizza Hut, even though both make round pizzas.
The Sandwich Patent
The United States Patent and Trademark Office once gave a patent for a mass-produced sealed crustless sandwich. A patent is like a special permission that gives someone the right to be the only one to make or sell an invention for a certain time.
The patent described a sandwich with a filling between two pieces of bread. The edges were pressed shut, and the crust was removed. It also mentioned putting peanut butter on both sides of the bread to keep the jelly from soaking in.
Many experts thought this patent was not a good idea. They believed the sandwich was too simple or already known. They found older patents and books that described similar ideas. For example, a 1949 patent described a machine to make sandwiches with sealed edges and trimmed crusts.
Smucker's also tried to patent the way the sandwich was made in 2004. But a court said no to their request in 2005.
Legal Challenges
In 2001, Smucker's sent a letter to a small food company called Albie's Food, Inc. They said Albie's was copying their "sealed crustless sandwich" idea. But Albie's fought back in court. They pointed out that a similar pocket sandwich, called a "pasty", had been popular in Michigan for a long time. The court decided that Albie's Food did not copy Smucker's idea. So, Albie's was allowed to keep making their sandwiches.
Later, Albie's asked the patent office to look at Smucker's patent again. Smucker's then made their patent claims very specific. For example, they only covered sealed crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches where the jelly was between two layers of peanut butter. But in 2003, the patent office still rejected these claims because of the older ideas found.
Smucker's tried to appeal this decision. But in 2006, the patent office said the wording in their claims was too unclear. Because Smucker's didn't respond in time, the patent office officially canceled all the claims in 2007. This means the original patent for the sealed crustless sandwich was no longer valid.
See also
