Legal requirements for labels vary from product to product and within product categories. Food-related, nutraceutical, supplements, and vitamin labels have to meet a diverse set of regulations across federal, state, and even international governing and regulatory agencies.
These regulations are constantly changing and move very fast within their respective product categories and industries. Manufacturers need the input of industry label experts in regard to label requirements. Label and font sizes, print size, placement of various ingredient statements, values, any governmental statements, seals, barcodes, and more can be required for each specific product. Most label printing and packaging companies do not provide this kind of expertise on staff. While their expertise is to produce the highest quality of labels that stick and perform meeting governmental label or ingredient regulations is the responsibility of the manufacturer.
Many companies have fallen prey to less than ethical label printing vendors who do not have the expertise in label requirements. It is not uncommon to fail a label inspection because the manufacturer did not do their due diligence in having an industry standards expert sign off on the final proof. Suddenly their printing costs have doubled which could have been avoided.
The bottom line for manufacturers is to make sure you have expert consultation and legal approval for label size, content, requirements, etc., so you can entrust your printing and packaging to experts in label production and printing. Companies can also be subject to fines for failure to comply with the label specifications for a particular product. Some retailers impose huge penalties and fines, or the loss of business altogether for companies that fail to comply with label legal requirements.
In South Carolina your product could be governed by SCDHEC, the Department of Agriculture, the FDA, FTC, or other regulatory agencies both state and federal. Label sizing is impacted by a lot of these regulations. This is why manufacturers need to consult experts and their label printing companies in concert to ensure compliance and to manage overall costs.
Beer and distilled spirit labels must be approved by the Federal Tax and Trade Bureau before they are printed. Alcohol labels have some of the most strict federal and state requirements. You don’t want to get caught with a great product and attractive label that fails to measure up to the legal requirements.
At Century Printing & Packaging we have been printing labels that stick, but have great eye appeal and consistently tell your brand story. We are experienced at working in concert with our customers and their label experts on these specialized labels. Printing labels and packaging is our expertise, and will be glad to work with your designated expert to ensure the label and packaging meet the regulatory standards.
Ben Waldrop, President
Century Printing & Packaging
Ben Waldrop, President
Century Printing and Packaging, Inc.
Greer, SC 29651
800.344.7509
