Tamper evident food package

A tamper evident closure for a food container having a sidewall terminating in a generally circular rim, said closure comprising:

• a discoidal lid for covering the container, said lid having a peripheral surface engaging the container sidewall in a manner to releasably hold the lid on the container and said lid having a wall section extending generally above said peripheral surface along the sidewall;
• a flange extending generally outwardly from said wall section to overlie the rim of the container, said flange having a plurality of cuts therethrough arranged generally end to end to cooperate in defining a weakened line of detachment extending around the flange;
• a tab portion of said flange formed thereon between adjacent ends of one pair of cuts;
• a plurality of web portions of said flange formed thereon between the ends of the remaining cuts, said web portions being frangible to permit tearing of the flange along said line of detachment;
• and
• a skirt extending from said flange at least partially beneath the row of the container to secure said lid thereon, said skirt being removable from the rim to permit initial removal of said lid only after at least one of said web portions has been severed.

A tamper evident package for food such as dairy products, said package comprising:

• a container having a sidewall terminating in a generally circular rim extending outwardly from the top of the sidewall, said sidewall having an inside surface presenting a groove located below said rim;
• a lid for said container having a peripheral rib fitting closely in said groove to releasably retain the lid on the container in a manner to seal the contents of the container;
• a wall section of the lid extending above said rib generally along said inside surface of the container sidewall;
• a flange extending from said wall section to generally overlie said rim;
• a detachable skirt extending from said flange at a location and orientation to at least partially underlie said rim to secure said lid on the container;
• a plurality of cuts through said flange arranged generally end to end but separated from one another to define a weakened line of detachment along which said skirt can be detached to permit removal of the lid from the container;
• and
• a plurality of frangible web portions of said flange located between the ends of adjacent cuts, whereby at least one of said web portions must be broken to permit said skirt to be removed from beneath said rim for initial removal of the lid from the container.