Labels

Labels

What is a Label?

A label displays information about your product on its packaging. Other than the name of the item and your brand, it should also show all the details that your customers need to know before buying.  

Why is Labelling Very Important?

First, the label is as critical as the product’s safety and quality. Thanks to all the information mentioned, it helps your consumers to choose the right product. 

Secondly, it can be a strong marketing tool. In fact, the element that will really make the difference today with consumers is the label, as well as the information it contains. For your consumers, these are real points of reference allowing them to know as much as possible about the product they are considering buying.  

However, you can’t do what you want in terms of labelling, you must comply with various laws and regulations.  

What is the Risk of Mislabeling?

If you do not have the correct label, your goods could be stopped at customs. You also might have a lawsuit from a customer who charges you with not disclosing information.  

What Information Needs to Appear?

Label requirements are different based on the product, so it is difficult to say exactly what information needs to be included on the labels. Typically, it is: 

  1. Country of origin 
  2. Name of manufacturer 
  3. Location of Importer 
  4. Material content 
  5. Care instructions 
  6. Other item specific information 

How to Find Out How to Label Your Product?

  1. Identify what kind of goods are your product? As mentioned before, label requirements are different based on the product.  
  2. This is not a failsafe way to know, but it’s a good place to start.  Does your competitor list any information or standards on their website or on the product’s label? Are there any news articles or legal suits about products like yours that caused harm and the company did not (or did) follow the correct regulation in terms of labelling?  
  3. Google is your friend!  Look up the label for your type of product. Yes, input into the google search engine the name of your product and label. Example: search for “Cosmetic product label” if you are selling cosmetics and see what comes up. We will use this example below. 
  4. Check out the US The US government has information on product labeling requirements. As mentioned above, there are many labelling requirements in order to give all the information to the consumers to protect them from possible allergies, to inform them about chemicals warnings etc. So, your company must consider all legal requirements before deciding on the labelling of your product.  

    You can first check the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) link and search for “label” as shown below:   

 You can also find out some updates about the regulation of your product so il allows you to anticipate and be more reactive. 

Secondly, you can check out this link for more information on product labeling. If you scroll down on this page, you can find all the links to the relevant agency for each category of product. Here is the link for all kinds of products.  

  1. Check out if there is consulting company for your product category who can have more information about labeling.
  1. Let’s look up a few products to see how this type of information is presented.

Example – Cosmetic Product

  1. Identify your product: we already know it’s a cosmetic.  What kind of cosmetic is it? For this example, we will take a body cream.
  1. Look at other similar products. What do the labels on body cream look like? What information do they have?
  1. Check the regulation on google: 

As you can see, the link to the FDA website appears. Click on the link.

On the FDA’s website you can find all of the information required for cosmetic product labeling. Some of the information required includes:
  • Statement of Identity
  • Instructions for Use
  • Ingredient List
  • Name and Address of Manufacturer
  • Name and Address of Importer
  • Name and Address of Representative
  • Net Content
  • Lot Number/Batch Code
  • Warning Statements
  • Expiration Date

Example – Medical Device

  1. Identify your product: a medical device
  2. Look at other similar products. Look at their labels and see the information it contains.
  3. Search google for the regulations.
  1. Go to the FDA’s website for medical device labeling.
  1. Here you can find general labeling guidelines, as well as other specific requirements based on the type of medical device. Some of the commonly required bits of information include:
  • Product Name
  • Product Description
  • UDI (Unique Device Identifier)
  • Manufacturer (Including City and Country)
  • Part Number
  • REF Number (Reorder Number)
  • Lot Number
  • Manufacture Date
  • Use By Date
  • Symbols (As stated in 21 CFR Part 801.15 and ISO 15223