Wellness Wednesday - Why is the can of Cranberry Upside Down? Or is it?

You Should Always Open A Can of Cranberry Sauce Upside Down This fun fact will be a hit at the Thanksgiving table.

by AUDREY BRUNONOV 9, 2016

OCEAN SPRAY

In only a few weeks, dinner tables across the country will become veritable smorgasbords of turkey, stuffing, and, of course, pumpkin everything. And aside from some disconcerting fall-flavored creations, these staples are otherwise straightforward, right?

Wrong. While sometimes forgotten, cranberry sauce has quite the secret up its sleeve. Have you ever noticed that a can of cranberry sauce is upside down? The rounded edge is at the top, and the sharp, can-like edge is at the bottom. Frankly, it looks like someone made a factory-wide mistake...or a full-blown conspiracy.

Was it possible that this was a problem with just a specific brand? Delish did some investigating at our local grocery store and found that all the cranberry sauce cans were sold exactly the same way:

Clearly, we were going to have to do some more digging.

A representative at Ocean Spray—who, sadly, didn't totally see the magnitude behind our can-related confusion—explained that there's a totally logical reason behind this anomaly. "The rounded end of the can is filled with an air bubble vacuum, which makes it easier to get the sauce out," he explained.

When you open the bottom of the cranberry sauce can, you need to simply insert a flat knife between the can and the jelly to activate the vacuum. This allows air to reach through to the bubble, and, in turn, push the contents out. What that means is the rounded end isn't actually the bottom...which means the cans aren't actually upside down. They're just differently designed cans.