Sealable food container with improved lidding and stacking features

摘要

A sealable food container includes a base serving member such as a plate having a generally planar central portion, a sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly therefrom and a base outer flange portion extending outwardly from the sidewall. The sidewall defines a sealing area with an undercut annular sealing surface disposed between the substantially planar central portion of the base serving member and the base outer flange portion. The sidewall portion of the plate defines a base stop ridge adjacent the upper edge of the undercut annular sealing surface of the sidewall as well as a laterally extending retaining shelf adjacent the lower edge of the undercut annular sealing surface of the base serving member. A matching sealing lid is typically provided with a dome, a flexible sidewall and an annular sealing portion configured to cooperate with the base stop ridge and the sealing surface of the serving member sidewall of the base serves to position the sidewall engaging cover during sealing of the container. In a preferred embodiment, the sidewall of the lid has upwardly projecting flutes and the base has an outer recess at the lower portion of its sidewall configured to engage the upwardly projecting flutes to render the containers securely stackable.