Packaging & Labeling

America has always been known as the country with consumer goods in the greatest abundance, variety, and lowest prices. No wonder everybody wants to visit the U.S. for their shopping experience. So if U.S. manufacturers are moving their businesses to Mexico and China, they're not going there for skilled workers — they're looking for the cheapest labor. Because that's what the public wants: the lowest prices. Can we blame manufacturers for moving jobs out of the country?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Packaging & Labeling, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Packaging & Labeling today.

Package consumers may think they're "green", but they don't always buy products in environmentally friendly packages. "Waste is a design fault and the [package] design community should have a desire to eliminate it whenever possible," says Julie Hill of Green Alliance in London. So, she says, the customer isn't always right after all. Should package designers make the decision for consumers? Should all packaging be environmentally friendly?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Packaging & Labeling, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Packaging & Labeling today.

Legislation passed by the California Senate would, beginning in two years, prohibit the use of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in food packages. The justification for such action is an EPA warning that PFCs are "likely human carcinogens." But the California Manufacturers and Technology Association says there is not sufficient justification to include PFCs on the list of carcinogens. Should PFCs (and other alleged health hazards) be evaluated by the scientific community rather than regulated by legislature?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Packaging & Labeling, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Packaging & Labeling today.

To address the strict packaging requirements of the pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries, one company at Interpack 2008 was showing an integrated electronic portfolio that brings together RFID, Data Matrix code reading, and machine vision concepts. The goal is standardization and automatic identification of all packaging components.

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Packaging & Labeling, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Packaging & Labeling today.

"Complacency and entitlement have killed more than one company and more than one civilization," writes Keith Campbell in his blog. And with the possible exception of breakthroughs in health care, we in the U.S. have become complacent about most things scientific. Other nations recognizing that our standard of living has been built upon hard work and scientific breakthrough, are rushing to fill the void that we are leaving. How can we steer the younger generation back towards scientific discovery?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Packaging & Labeling, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Packaging & Labeling today.