Strongman struggles to open basic household products as wrap rage hits Aussies Derek Boyer is taking on a range of tough-to-open packages. STRONGMAN Derek Boyer has flipped a car, pulled a truck and leg-pressed a 120-tonne road train, but in the end his greatest challenge was the packaging around a humble toothbrush. The strength athlete has a swag of Guinness World Records and was Australia's strongest man 15 years running, but still admits he's baffled, frustrated and annoyed by the packaging of simple household objects. And he's not alone. Statistics released to The Sunday Mail by Arthritis Australia show millions of Australians suffer from "wrap rage," with 90 per cent of us experiencing fury or frustration at product packaging. Scroll below to see how Derek fared in opening various household products. Tell us your experience with wrap rage in the comments box below Worse still, the survey undertaken by Catalyst Research showed a whopping 12 million of us have injured ourselves while trying to open packaging, with 5 million sustaining deep cuts and 1.7 million breaking or chipping their teeth. Derek Boyer tries to open the package of an Oral-B toothbrush. Arthritis Australia strategic partnerships manager Fergal Barry said over the past 20 years, problems with package accessibility had become "significantly worse" "Even weightlifters can't open some of these products," he said. Packaging is a safety issue. It's a major cause of injury, it's a major cause of frustration, it's a cause of indignity, and if you fix it you'll sell more products. The survey of 500 people, commissioned by Reader's Digest, found that glass jars with metal lids were rated the most difficult to open, followed by hard plastic clamshell packaging and cans requiring an opener. Cleaning products with squeeze and twist caps, boxed toys with zipties and childproof medicine bottles also rated as high difficulty. Mr Barry said people with arthritis and the elderly struggled to open many household items, which could leave them frustrated and rob them of their independence. "It's about dignity, but everybody deserves frustration-free packaging, not just people with arthritis or a disability or the elderly," he said. Mr Barry said the core reason why industry didn't react was that people were reluctant to complain, and as a society we've come to "accept the unacceptable" when it comes to packaging. Derek Boyer tries to openn a pack of Harris Coffee. But he said even though companies could increase sales and reduce packaging costs by switching to easier packaging, many were reluctant to do so because they didn't see it as a widespread problem. The Sunday Mail put a basket of products to the test, timing how long strongman Boyer took to open them and his reactions to some of the trickiest types of packaging on the market. "The fact is I'm very strong, but it can be a very frustrating process getting into the smallest packages," said Boyer. He said the biggest challenges came from sealed plastic clamshell packaging, while products like Chupa Chups could be difficult for those without nimble fingers. My strongest advice goes out to manufacturers, that they have clear, clean instructions and accessibility to products. There's no excuse for it and it'll only go against their sales," he said. If you have had trouble opening a package, or have experienced "wrap rage," let the industry know by calling the Australian Packaging Covenant on 1300 308 030 or emailing pack-line@packagingcovenant.org.au Derek Boyer struggles with a pack of Mentos. Product: Grain Waves 40g Time to open: 3 seconds Difficulty rating (out of 10): 2.5 Derek's comments: I wouldn't classify that as a challenge for anyone. That's an easy open. On a rating of 1 to 10, with 10 being absolutely impossible to open, that'd be around a 2.5 Company comments: Declined to comment. Product: Wrigley's Extra 2-Pack Time to open: 39 seconds Difficulty rating (out of 10): 3.5 Derek's comments: This was all about the layers. There were four layers of packaging I had to navigate through to get to the gum. I'm just wondering whether this is a strength test of a measure of how stupid I am. Company comments: Our main aim is to adopt minimal packaging, whilst ensuring maximum freshness and high product quality that Australian consumers have come to expect from Wrigley. Product: Woolworths Homebrand Bleach Time to open: 6 seconds Difficulty rating (out of 10): 2 Derek's comments: This may baffle somebody that doesn't know what to do, and will literally leave you there all day if you don't know the technique of pushing down and releasing. For kids that don't know the technique or can't read that may pose some frustrations. You have to physically push down and turn it, which poses it as a slightly tricky locking system, which it should be because it's bloody dangerous. Company comments: We are focused on making packaging easy for our customers to use while ensuring we meet safety standards. Woolworths is working with Arthritis Australia to assess the accessibility of our own brand packaging, with the goal of finding practical solutions for our customers. Product: Coles Salsa Time to open: 9 seconds Derek's comments: This was on the easier side. It's just having long enough fingernails to get underneath the plastic covering, peeling it around and then you've got to have enough strength to pop the lid, which I would say is easy enough. Company comments: All of our Coles Brand products and packaging goes through a comprehensive customer testing process before landing on the shelf. This ensures we are delivering Australian customers the best quality product, with easy-to-use and informative packaging. Product: Chupa Chup Time to open: 17 seconds Difficulty rating (out of 10): 6 Derek's comments: I would say this, from personal experience, is one of the most frustrating objects to open. They can be notoriously difficult to start and unwind and find the end of it, especially with the plastic melding into the lolly itself. It's also an embarrassing, frustrating thing being a big guy with my strength exploits in mind trying to justify the amount of effort that goes into something so small and seemingly simple. Company comments: We understand Chupa Chups can be tricky to open sometimes. Try twisting your Chupa Chup at the bottom of the wrapping to open it. We are investigating options that will make the lollipops easier to open, but we can't confirm when the changes will occur. Product: Oral-B Vitality Plus Electric Toothbrush Time to open: 3 minutes 47 seconds before giving up. Difficulty rating (out of 10): 10 Derek's comments: That's humiliating, it's frustrating, it's sent me into a fit of depression. I only wanted to brush my teeth, but I can't do it. It's taken away something from my manhood. I was looking at trying to create an opening but it's so well-sealed I'm fearful that the manufacturer doesn't really want me to have this product. It's been damaging to my self-esteem. Company comments: Our packaging is designed to protect the product from damage during transportation and is sealed to reduce the risk of theft. Our advice would be for customers to open the package with scissors when they get home. Product: Woolworths Essentials 17cm Scissors Time to open: 18 seconds Difficulty rating (out of 10): 7 Derek's comments: I managed to bend the packet over enough to use the sharp ends of the scissors to then penetrate the package. It's ironic that the thing I need to get out of the packet is the thing I need to get into the packet with. I think it's somewhat dangerous. Product: Pack of Individually Wrapped Mentos Time to open: 15 seconds Difficulty rating (out of 10): 1 Derek's comments: It's annoying that the contents of the packet have ended in a 10-metre radius from where I'm standing. It was a two-stage unwrap, first getting into the package, then the smaller packets required either teeth or nimble fingers. I chose the teeth as my preferred method. Company comments: Did not respond to request for comment. Product: Harris Coffee Time to open: 1 minute 1 second Derek's comments: This is the best coffee there is. It's well-sealed. I tried to navigate it using finger strength which I found very, very difficult, so I went to the next option of teeth and managed to make a small incision, then worked my way into it fingers, caveman style. My thoughts on this matter are brains before brawn, use a pair of scissors. Company comments: Our Harris ground coffee products are vacuum packed for freshness. This prevents exposure to oxygen which stales coffee, locking in the quality taste and aroma of the coffee from the roastery to the consumer. This does mean that, like other vacuum packed coffee bricks, the packs are tightly sealed and are not designed to be opened unassisted. We do offer other single serve coffee drink options, such as our Moccona Café Classics range, that are designed to be easy open. Product: Dolmio Tomato Onion and Roast Garlic Sauce Time to open: 2 seconds Difficulty rating (out of 10): 0.5 Derek's comments: I would bet that my own grandmother could find access to this product within seconds of trying. But in saying that you can hear the pop, and in hearing the pop you know it's sealed effectively. I would rate that as a very accessible product. Company comments: Declined to comment Product: Koolstix One Direction 8GB USB flash drive Time to open: 50 seconds Difficulty rating (out of 10): 8.5 Derek's comments: There were no instructions, nowhere to start in trying to unwrap that. It's a small package that presents a massive headache trying to get into. If the One Direction boys all got together in a room I doubt very much whether they could get into that at all. How little kids would get into that, I'm baffled. It was thoroughly annoying, just like their songs. Company comments: Nobody goes out to design packaging for consumers that's difficult, but the comments are fair and reasonable and I think we could look at showing consumers how to open it in a better way. It's designed to ensure that costs are kept to bare minimums so consumers benefit. It's also all about mitigating the potential for theft. Product: Listerine FreshBurst 500ml Time to open: 11 seconds Derek's comments: There was comparatively not much to it, but you've just got to find the right spot to start the unwrapping. It can be a little bit tricky if you can't sight it straight up, and then it requires a small portion of strength to break the seal on the lid. Product: Milo 200g tin Time to open: 10 seconds, gave up Difficulty rating (out of 10): 10 unassisted, 0.5 with a spoon Derek's comments: I would suggest a spoon would do the best job here. It's well-sealed, requiring more strength than I possess to physically open this unassisted. I would highly recommend using a spoon to lever the top off and then it would be a simple matter of piercing the foil underneath to get to the Milo goodness. Company comments: We are working on a project to make the opening, using and closing of the Milo tin easier. These changes take considerable time and effort but we are working hard to deliver a better experience to all those who drink Milo. We've made a commitment to redesign all of our packaging to make products easier to open by people suffering from arthritis and the elderly. We have already reviewed more than 20 of our products over the last two years and are committed to making our products accessible to everyone, regardless of age or physical disability. Product: Wattie's Baked Beans 420g Time to open: Did not attempt Derek's comments: I stood here contemplating being marooned on a desert island with one of these cans, on nothing but a sandy beach, contemplating how I would possibly get into this can. I'm bewildered that this manufacturer has not placed a ring pull on this can. It would prevent me from buying the product full-stop. Ring pulls are definitely the prevailing reason to buy not just a can of baked beans, but any can. Company comments: Did not respond to requests for comment.