What are tamper-evident labels and what purpose do they serve?
It is a type of label in which the main goal is to provide clear evidence of literally, tampering. In other words, these labels are meant to show if someone has tried to peel, cut, or in any way mess with the label and thus with the packaging. This is in order to protect the packaging and even more so, the product within the packaging from being touched without the final consumer noticing.
Imagine a pharmaceutical bottle with the classic pop off cap. Without any form of protection, someone could open the bottle and take out some or all the medicine tablets inside and or even put other things inside. If someone were to do this before the final consumer, and this final consumer has no idea this occurred, the liabilities are endless. To put it in perspective it is estimated that approximately one million people die due to counterfeit drugs. So, how can we help the final consumer know that a certain pharmaceutical was messed with?
By placing a tamper evident label on the bottle cap and touching the rest of the body of the bottle, someone would need to take off the label or break it in order to access what is inside. If we place a non-tamper-evident label then someone can simply peel it off and stick it back on once they accessed the inside of the bottle. With a tamper-evident label, any attempt at peeling the label will immediately leave visual evidence of tampering by only peeling parts of the label while other parts stay stuck to the packaging. The pattern that is left when a tamper-evident label is peeled off can be generic such as something resembling a checkers board, or it can be personalized for example leaving behind the outline of a company’s logo.
Overall, tamper-evident labels visual and clearly show that someone has attempted to do something to the label.
