In the United States; is it illegal to use a single serve wrapped slice of Kraft cheese as a postcard?

Comments

• protist@mander.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  This would be prohibited by the USPS:

  5 Perishable Matter/ 51 Definition/ 511 General Definitions// Perishable matter is anything that can deteriorate in the mail and thereby lose value, create a health hazard, or cause an obnoxious odor, nuisance, or disturbance, under ordinary mailing conditions. Mailable perishable matter may be sent at the mailer’s own risk when it is packaged as required and when it can be delivered within appropriate and reasonable time limits to prevent deterioration.//Examples of perishable matter include mailable types of live animals, food items, and plants.

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  • stu42j@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Does Kraft “cheese” really count as food though?

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    • ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      I’m going to die on this hill: Cheeses like this are real food. Typically real cheese is one of if not the first ingredient. They are made from cheese, milk, and an emulsifying agent. It’s literally cheese sauce with a higher melting point. You can make it yourself it’s really easy, you can use non standard cheeses for it like provolone or Gouda, and the only real difference would be in preservatives

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    • protist@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      It’s certainly perishable, doesn’t have to be food

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  • spittingimage@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    American cheese doesn’t look like it’ll ever deteriorate.

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    • waz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      When I was younger, we moved around a lot, and as side effect of that, we paid for a storage unit to hold less frequently used stuff. Around the time I started high school, we managed to buy a house, and moved everything from the storage unit into our home. In it there was a picnic basket that I had never seen before. I remember looking inside and finding a horrible smelling bag of “bread” which was actually a black liquid with lumps in it. There was also some individually wrapped cheese slices which visually speaking were indistinguishable from any I could buy in the store today.

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  • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Mailable perishable matter may be sent at the mailer’s own risk

    The regulation you cited does not strictly prohibit the mailing of “perishable items”.

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    • protist@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Try including the rest of the sentence in your quote

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  • TokenEffort@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Yet people received their Pink sauce…

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  • usualsuspect191@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Interesting. So the potato thing is technically against their rules, but they just do it anyways I guess?

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  • HubertManne@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    was going to say perishable was the first thing that came to my mind.

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• litchralee@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  At the very minimum, this type of mail would incur the $0.46 non-machinable surcharge because it’s smaller than one of the minimum USPS dimensions for postcards, namely that one size has to be 5 inches (127 mm exact). You may also have issues with it being too floppy for basic handling by the postal carrier, especially if it was previously left in a warm mailbox.

  But perhaps a more practical issue may arise first: will stamps even adhere to the wrapping of a Kraft Cheese single? If you cannot affix postage, that’s the most immediate impediment.

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• Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  You can use any piece of cardstock. I used to cut rectangles out of cereal boxes and use those.

  I think it does have to be cardstock or similar weight, though; cheese might not meet the requirements.

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• mister_flibble@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Kraft singles have a rather low melting point. I feel like, regardless of whether they take it or not, one warm day while it’s in the back of a mail truck somewhere would cause it to liquefy and escape the weird cheese condom.

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• Kookie215@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  I remember seeing that people can write the address on a potato and the USPS will deliver it if it has the right amount of stamps, so I suppose its possible. Definitely not “illegal” but the chances it gets thrown in the trash are high.

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  • Goretantath@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Its funny because thats technically against their rules but they do ship em.

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• Tramort@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  It’s legal. Which probably means that ICE will show up at your door, break in without a warrant, and deport you to a central American prison because you tried.

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• sunbrrnslapper@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Unknown. My aunt once mailed me a coconut (in its husk). Just gotta get the postage right…

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• expatriado@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  are you being cheese op? if your postcard isn’t rejected, will arrive at 10 different destinations

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• i_am_not_a_robot@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  See W. Reginald Bray

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  • POTOOOOOOOO@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Good read, thanks

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• ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  AFAIK you can literally mail anything (except these things) as long as you pay the right postage and address it.

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  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    It might not arrive safely though.

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