cosmetic labels
12 Jun
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Proper labeling is a vital aspect of marketing a personal care or cosmetic product. Cosmetic and any other consumer products are labeled to help inform consumers of a product’s intended use, who the manufacturer is, net quantity of contents, its ingredients, and any related warnings. Cosmetic labeling is regulated by the FDA laws and these regulations are meant to protect the consumers from deceptive practices and health hazards, as well as help consumers make an informed choice before they purchase personal care products. These rules and regulations have to be followed to the letter. Whether you are a small scale cosmetic producer or a big cosmetic manufacturer, you need to ensure that your cosmetic labels follow these FDA labeling regulations:

Principle Display Panel

The Principle Display Panel (PDP) is the part of the label that is most likely to be examined or viewed by customers when displayed on store shelves. These labels can be placed either on a wrapper, folding carton, or a box that is holding the immediate container. If a product has no outer container, the PDP is supposed to be placed on the container of the product. The FDA has set some requirements regarding the PDP. They include:

  • 10 Warning: If a cosmetic product contains an ingredient that does not substantiate its safety, the FDA requires the producer to include a warning statement on the PDP. The word “Warning” should be visible. This warns the consumers that the safety of the product has not been determined and it meant to act as a cautionary statement. If the cosmetic product has an outer package, the “Warning” statement should be included on the label and the inner package should only include the identity statement.
  • Identity statement: An identity statement is where a cosmetic producer is supposed to indicate the use and the nature of the product. The statement should be a fanciful name, usual or common name or a descriptive name that the public can understand. The statement can also be an illustration.
  • Net quantity: Cosmetic labels should include accurate statements of content’s net quantity in terms of numerical count, measure, weight or a combination of weight and numerical count.

Information Panel

The IP (Information Panel) is a panel other than the PDP that contains additional information about a cosmetic product and a consumer is likely not to see it easily. The FDA requirements about the IP include:

Ingredients listing: The label should include all the ingredients used to manufacture the product.

Ingredient name: Producers are required to use ingredients names that are listed in the USP dictionary of drug names, USAN, Food Chemical Codex, National Formulary and the United States Pharmacopeia.

Ingredient declaration: The ingredients should be listed in a simple language that can be understood by ordinary individuals and they should be printed in sizes that can allow consumers to read with ease. In cases where a product is packaged in a decorative container, the declaration should be firmly affixed using a card, tape or tag.

Material facts: The labels should include material facts that need to include information like directions for use to help consumers not misuse the product.

Distributor statement: The label should include “manufactured for..” and “Distributed by..” statements

Name and place of business: This can be the name of the distributor, packer or manufacturer.

The above FDA regulations strictly need to be adhered to when designing cosmetic labels. Failure to follow these rules can lead to product misbranding and fines for printing misleading labels. To ensure your cosmetic labels pass inspection, work with a reputable label printer who already knows all about these regulations to save you time and money.