Food labels include information about the product such as the protein and sugar content, minerals, vitamins, and other relevant information. It is an essential part of product manufacturing and reports have shown that buyers pay close attention to the “facts” on a product label before making a purchase. It is important to have a well prepared manufacturing plan – no matter the size of your operation, as this will ensure you avoid common labeling mistakes. Here are a few mistakes you must steer clear from.
Legal Requirements
Following basic legal requirements for the labeling of your food product is crucial to the success of your business. Requirements such as country of origin, net contents, place of business, product name, manufacturer’s details, expiry dates, legibility, nutrition facts, and warnings/statement about allergens. In order to ensure you meet the food labeling requirements in your country, it would be ideal to review the labeling laws and approval process.
Illegible or Unreadable Labeling
Legible labeling is one of the basic requirements for a good food product label. Your products would hardly make any fruitful outing in the market if the labeling is illegible and difficult to read. Your business may even nosedive if your food products miss important information. This is because if the product makes it to the shelf and a consumer purchases it, you may be exposing such one to high level health risks.
Illegible labeling is a common occurrence with those who produce food products in large quantities at a go since maintaining a regulated labeling order could be difficult. Shrink labeling is a flexible packaging type that is ideal for high volume manufacturers. Aside its colorful and appealing designs, shrink labeling has a full body label space where you can input as much relevant information as possible.
Incorrect or Uncommon Ingredient List
Have you listed in the ingredients on your food labeling? Are they correct? Will your target consumer easily relate with the list on your product? Using uncommon names such as trade names or abbreviations would do your product no good. Always ensure you strictly adhere to FDA food labeling regulations – do not take any shortcuts while listing the items used in manufacturing the food you produce.
Nutrition Data Issues
Many consumers scrutinize the nutritional facts on your product before making purchase especially when they are managing certain health issues. These issues could include high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, and obesity. Hence, you have to be sure of the data on your labels – and you must be honest too. Details such as servings per container, your serving size, and the real item values must be double checked. Publicizing wrong information can have severe negative impact on your brand loyalty in the long term.
Health Claims
It is common for food products today to have common claims such as low fat, gluten free, no sugar, high protein, organic, and farm fresh. It is not just enough to convince a consumer with such health claims. Make sure your claims are verifiable so do not fall fowl of any food legislations. It would not bode well for your business if you do not have credible evidence to support your claims and your product eventually affects a consumer’s health negatively.
Learn more about Anchor Printing and their vast line of custom product label & packaging options including: Shrink Sleeve Labels, Flexible Packaging, Roll-Fed Labeling, Pressure Sensitive and Cut & Stack Labels at http://www.anchorprinting.com. To contact one of our label specialists call toll free at 800.748.0209 or via email at info@anchorprinting.com.