Engineering:Bread clip

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Short description: Closure device for plastic bags
A white bread clip

A bread clip is a device that is used to hold plastic bags closed, such as those in which sliced bread is commonly packaged. They are also commonly called bread tags, bread tabs, bread ties, bread buckles, bread-bag clips, or occlupanids. By sealing a bag more securely than tying or folding over its open end, and thus providing a nearly hermetic seal, the contents are preserved longer.

Designs

Simple

An assortment of simple bread clips

Most designs of bread clip consist of a single plastic part through which the neck of a plastic bag can be threaded. Because these clips are cheap, ubiquitous, and come in a variety of shapes and colors, some people collect them.[1]

Most bread clips are made from plastic #6 polystyrene (PS),[2] but Quebec-based bread clip manufacturing company KLR Systems released recyclable, cardboard bread clips in 2019,[3] which they later switched to producing in 2022.[4]


Mechanical

A more complex bread clip design involves two articulated plastic parts mounted on a pivot with a spring between them to provide tension.[citation needed]

History

A clip sealing a bag of buns displaying a best before date
Biodegradable bread clip in Quebec, Canada

The bread clip was invented by Floyd G. Paxton and manufactured by the Kwik Lok Corporation, based in Yakima, Washington[5] with manufacturing plants in Yakima and New Haven, Indiana. Kwik Lok Corporation's clips are called "Kwik Lok closures".


The bread clip was developed in the early 1950s for a growing need to close plastic bags on the packaging line very efficiently. Manufacturers, using more and more automation in the manufacture and packaging of food, needed methods to raise production volumes and reduce costs. At the same time a hurried population of consumers wanted a fast and easy way to open and effectively seal food bags. The simple bread clip sufficed. In addition, re-closability became a selling point as smaller families and higher costs slowed consumption, leading to a potential for higher rates of spoilage.

Kwik Lok continues to be the main manufacturer of bread clips with Schutte as their European competitor.[6]

Manufacturers

KLR Systems

KLR Systems began as a distributor of Kwik Lok products in 1977 in the Canadian city of Saint-Pie, Québec.[7]

Kwik Lok

The original manufacturer of breadclips and based in the US city of Yakima, Washington, Kwik Lok was founded in 1954 by Floyd Greg Paxton. As of March 2026, it remains the largest manufacturer and distributor of breadclips, which it calls "Kwik Loks".

MAX Co., Ltd.

MAX Co., Ltd. was founded in the Japanese city of Takasaki, Gunma prefecture in 1942 as Yamada Air Industry Co., Ltd.[8], producing wing parts for airplanes. The company primarily manufactures industrial equipment and stationery, but launched a bagclosure some time prior to 2019.[9] They also released BIOMASS CONI-CLIP in 2022.[10]

Rexam

Rexam was founded in 1881 as a paper making business in the English city of London. Some time before 2021 and likely prior to their acquisition by Ball in 2017, Rexam produced a bagclosure.[11][12]

Schutte Bagclosures

Schutte Bagclosures, founded in 1957 by Joannes Schutte in the Dutch city of Amsterdam. In 1975 the company moved to Uden and to its current location therein 1980.[13] One of the largest manufacturers of breadclips, Schutte Bagclosures is also Kwik Lok's top competitor.[14]

Twist-HD

Zhenjiang Hongda Commodity Co., Ltd., also known as Twist-HD, was founded in 1998 in the Chinese city of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.[15]

West Lock Fastener

West Lock Fastener was founded in the Canadian town of Athabasca, Alberta by Lou Koppe. The company produces foldable breadclips reportedly made from recycled PET plastic[16], created to be an "ecologically correct", hand-friendly, freezers-safe breadclip which is easy to apply to and remove from bags. As of March 2026 the site, ecoclip.com, is inactive.[17]

"Occlupanids"

John Daniel, creator of the website horg.com, coined the term occlupanids to describe plastic bread clips,[upper-alpha 1] and created a mock phylogeny of the different clip designs, as well as a formal taxonomy including "families" and binomial scientific names.[19] Researchers of occlupanids are called occlupanologists.[20] These terms have since been referenced in popular media.[21][20][22]

Health risks

Case studies in the medical literature document instances of inhalation and ingestion.[23][18]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ combining the Latin occlu- (to close) and -pan (bread)[18]

Media

Citations

  1. ↑ "Why Shani Nottingham turns plastic bread tags into art installations". 8 September 2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-09/from-plastic-bread-tags-to-art-installations/102804940. 
  2. ↑ "Because You Asked: Can Bread Clips be Recycled?". https://livegreen.recyclebank.com/because-you-asked-can-bread-clips-be-recycled. 
  3. ↑ "KLR launches sustainable bag clip". 8 August 2019. https://www.bakersjournal.com/new-products/klr-launches-sustainable-bag-clip-7854. 
  4. ↑ "Cardboard bread clips hitting grocery shelves after Quebec company ditches plastic". CBC News. 13 May 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/plastic-cardboard-bread-1.6452032. 
  5. ↑ Losanoff, Julian E.; Basson, Marc D. (September 2011). "Intestinal Obstruction by a Bread Clip". The American Surgeon 77 (9): 177–178. doi:10.1177/000313481107700902. ProQuest 1443353273. PMID 21944599. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1443353273. Retrieved 9 May 2024. 
  6. ↑ Grundhauser, Eric (25 May 2017). "Most of the World's Bread Clips Are Made by a Single Company". Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bread-tabs-clips-paxton. Retrieved 27 April 2018. 
  7. ↑ https://www.klrsystems.com
  8. ↑ https://www.max-ltd.co.jp/en/about/company/steps/history.html
  9. ↑ https://www.horg.com/horg/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ka_nect_ba_scan.jpg
  10. ↑ https://www.max-ltd.co.jp/en/about/company/business/af.html
  11. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rexam
  12. ↑ http://www.horg.com/horg/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ar_ampul_therm_double.jpg
  13. ↑ https://www.schutte-usa.com/About-us
  14. ↑ citation needed
  15. ↑ https://www.hdtwistties.com
  16. ↑ citation needed
  17. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20231201005725/https://ecoclip.com/index.html
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lehmer, LM; Ragsdale, BD; Daniel, J; Hayashi, E; Kvalstad, R (September 2011). "Plastic bag clip discovered in partial colectomy accompanying proposal for phylogenic plastic bag clip classification". BMJ Case Reports 2011: bcr0220113869. doi:10.1136/bcr.02.2011.3869. PMID 22679182. 
  19. ↑ Daniels, John. "Holotypic Occlupanid Research Group" (in en-US). http://www.horg.com/horg/. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Kohlstedt, Kurt (2017-09-25). "Bagged & Tagged: An Introductory Field Guide to Plastic Bread Clips" (in en-US). https://99percentinvisible.org/article/bagged-tagged-introductory-field-guide-plastic-bread-clips/. 
  21. ↑ Boyle, Rhianna (2014-10-20). "Toward a Taxonomy of the Plasticae: Meeting The Holotypic Occlupanid Research Group" (in en-AU). https://www.theliftedbrow.com/liftedbrow/toward-a-taxonomy-of-the-plasticae-meeting-the. 
  22. ↑ "Critter of the Week: The occlupanid – a member of the phylum Plasticae" (in en). 2016-05-19. https://niwa.co.nz/blogs/critteroftheweek/200. 
  23. ↑ Karro, R; Goussard, P; Loock, J; Gie, R (May 2015). "The simple bread tag - a menace to society?". South African Medical Journal 105 (5): 342–44. doi:10.7196/SAMJ.8996. PMID 26242660. https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.7196/SAMJ.8996. 



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