Labelling of Vitamin Pills

ThemeOne

Does anyone know the law regarding labelling of vitamin pills?

I bought some Vitamin C plus Zinc recently in Superdrug. I noticed there were no ingredients or any information regarding RDA (recommended daily amount) visible on the label, but there was a note visible stating "For free from, ingredients and nutritional information see inside label".

This means there are two labels around the container, one stuck on top of the other. They are very difficult to separate and I assume you would not be allowed to do this without purchasing the item. However, many shoppers would have a legitimate reason for wanting to see ingredients etc before deciding whether or not to buy.

I thought this kind of information had to be visible at point of sale, but maybe the rules are different for things like vitamin pills?

marliepanda

Unless they are a small company which only supplies it!!!8217;s own company, these are the rules they have to follow:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595961/Nutrition_Technical_Guidance.pdf

I haven!!!8217;t looked through as I don!!!8217;t have all the info to hand but you do

agrinnall

I just peel back the label so that I can read the inner one if I want to check something before buying, it's the retailer's fault for stocking a badly designed product if I decide not to buy and put it back on the shelf in a condition that may put other people off.

Fosterdog

The sort of label you described is allowed and is perfectly standard in the medical and toiletry industries. All of the information is available to you before purchase but to make the font big enough to read without needing to increase packaging size they use the fold over labels. I always peel them back and read the information before buying, it's nothing like opening the product so you do not have to buy it to read the full label. They always have an easy peel corner and are plastic coated to also make them easy to peel.

In under two minutes I quickly checked things in my house with those labels and have two moisturisers, one foundation, several other makeup products, a roll on deodorant, a bottle/tub of multivitamins and OHs prescription nasal spray and his prescription Diplobase emollient cream for his eczema, the last one despite being a huge bottle has a whole fold away booklet tucked under the peelable label.

welshbookworm

I ask a member of staff if I can peel back the label and have never been refused.

Fosterdog

agrinnall wrote: »

if I decide not to buy and put it back on the shelf in a condition that may put other people off.

Serious question, why would you do that?

It's not the retailer that chooses the packaging and there are laws to dictate how small the fonts can be for things like this, some manufacturers have chosen to not add additional waste packagaing by using a perfectly sensible labelling system that gives all of the information required in the required font size in an easily accessible way. With the problems we have with overuse of plastics and the pollution caused by them it is a much better way of doing it than the manufacturers who choose to make bottles needlessly bigger or add a cardboard box as additional wasted packaging just to meet the legal requirements of labelling. Wouldn't it be more sensible to put it back neatly to not put other people off?

K80_Black

It's common for vitamin pills, so I'm assuming it's perfectly legal - I find them easy to seperate and re-stick, but maybe I'm alone in this! I'm sure the staff would be helpful if you had questions regarding them, particularly own brand products.

It reminds me of patient information leaflets that come inside medications - you cannot read them without opening the box, but that's where the full list of ingredients, allergens and medications they react to are. The staff are always really helpful and open boxes and get them out for me, or provide me with a spare copy for pharmacy medications if I ask.

If you don't want to bother the staff, you can usually find all the information about them online too.

ThemeOne

I had the devil of a job separating the labels even once I'd got the product home, so would have had no hope doing it in the shop, and I do not have shaky hands or any condition affecting my grip. Maybe I just don't have the knack and need to practice.

You're right about the patient information leaflets, but I have never seen a pack of, say, paracetamol which doesn't state on the outside of the pack how much paracetamol each tablet contains.

Perhaps the issue is that although more and more information needs to be declared about products, there is also pressure to reduce packaging size.

agrinnall

Fosterdog wrote: »

Serious question, why would you do that?

It's not the retailer that chooses the packaging and there are laws to dictate how small the fonts can be for things like this, some manufacturers have chosen to not add additional waste packagaing by using a perfectly sensible labelling system that gives all of the information required in the required font size in an easily accessible way. With the problems we have with overuse of plastics and the pollution caused by them it is a much better way of doing it than the manufacturers who choose to make bottles needlessly bigger or add a cardboard box as additional wasted packaging just to meet the legal requirements of labelling. Wouldn't it be more sensible to put it back neatly to not put other people off?

I do put it back neatly if at all possible, but sometimes it isn't possible because the two layers don't separate properly. If I don't want the product I'm not going to buy it simply because the information I need isn't available without causing some damage, if the manufacturers come under pressure from the retailers to design their products in such a way that damage isn't caused then we're all winners.

I should say that it's not just medicines that this applies to, it's also things like cooking instructions, and I tend to find it even more of a problem with those, perhaps because the storage conditions are not ideal for an easy-peel label.