#20 - Of the various food containers made of recycled

[akanshalsat]

Hello! Just want to get a quick confirmation as to why B is incorrect? - E seems kind of similar to it, and I get why E is correct. I just don't know how I would eliminate B fast?

[Adam Tyson]

LSAT2018: While we don't typically use the "Negation Technique" on these types of questions, consider for a moment the negation of answer E. What if every type of food container made of recycled Styrofoam is effectively prevented from coming into contact with the food it contains? If that was the case, then the evidence we have about egg shells preventing contact would do absolutely nothing to make egg cartons the easiest to make. We wouldn't care at all about cleaning any of the containers any more than we clean egg cartons. Since we have to accept the truth of the premises - that egg cartons are actually easier to make, and that the reason is the reduced cleaning required thanks to the eggshells keeping the cartons from touching the food - it must be true that at least some other foods don't have that protective barrier and that the cartons must be cleaned better. There has to be at least one type of food that is packaged in recycled Styrofoam where the food comes into contact with the container and the container must therefore be cleaned better.

A need not be true because the author doesn't indicate that egg cartons are the only ones that have that advantage, but only that they are "among" the easiest to make. Perhaps there are some others that have similar properties, like Styrofoam containers for oranges, or peanuts? That could still be true.

akanshalsat: The problem with answer B here is that we simply cannot prove that there is even one food in the entire universe that cannot be packaged in recycled Styrofoam. Perhaps if we clean it thoroughly enough, and make it sturdy enough and leakproof, etc., we could put anything in recycled Styrofoam? To pick answer B you have to have some pretty strong evidence, and we don't have anything that strong. What food can't be packaged in Styrofoam, per this stimulus? Can you name even one with any confidence? I can't. For that reason, answer B is just too strong for a good MBT answer choice.