Researchers analyzing data from a 2005-06 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, found that nearly 62% of respondents said they read the nutrition facts labels before making a food purchase. Further, nearly 52% examine the list of ingredients, 47% pay attention to the serving size and nearly 44% review health claims at least some of the time when deciding which food product to purchase.

There were significant health differences between food label readers and non-readers. Researchers of the study stated that people who took the time to read the food labels had dramatic increases in their intake of total calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and dietary fibers / sugars.

“If the food label is to have a greater public health impact, rates of use will likely need to be increased among U.S. adults,” said study author Nicholas J. Ollberding, a professor in the Department of Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, at Columbia University.

“Low rates of label use also suggest that food labels may need to be modified,” Ollberding added. Suggested changes to the current label could include bolding calorie information, reporting the total nutrient intake for foods likely to be consumed in a single sitting, and using more intuitive labeling techniques such as the use of red, yellow and green inks on the label itself.

So, what does all this mean to those of us in the label industry or our customers – actual purchasers of food product labels? Nothing specific just yet. There are no mandated changes for requirements on food / nutrition labels at this specific time. But, they may be coming at some point down the road. We will do our best to keep you posted as to changes in FDA requirements. In the mean time, however, please feel free to visit the food labels page of our site for a listing of products we offer and more information.

And, if you’d like even more info on this subject, please visit the FDA’s website…
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm094536.htm

Have a question or comment about food or nutrition facts labels? Please leave your comment below and we will get back to you with a personal response.

Thank you,

Mark Trumper
CEO – MaverickLabel.Com

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Part of my job requires that I travel frequently for business. And, I have gotten into the habit of reading quite heavily while on these business trips. Reading helps to pass the time on flights, in airports, taxis, and so on – as well as to help me catch-up on industry trends and analysis.

Carrying around multiple magazines or books can be quite a hassle, however. So, I recently purchased a Kindle (digital e-book reader). It is an amazing piece of technology and affords me the luxury of storing dozens of books and magazines for review at any time – without the bulk and inconvenience of transporting the printed versions.

My Kindle has become a valuable asset in my business and personal travels. I take it with me everywhere now and it is an essential piece of my carry-on luggage. As a matter of fact, my Kindle has replaced my laptop as the first thing I break out, after the airline pilot gives word that it is okay to use personal electronic devices.

Well, on a recent Alaska Airlines flight, you can imagine my surprise as I realized my Kindle was missing. After de-boarding the plane and walking to the waiting lounge for my connecting flight, I reached into my carry-on bag to take out my trusty e-book reader. But it wasn’t there. After thinking back, I remembered using it and then putting it in the seat pocket in front of me as I got up to stretch my legs before landing.

There was no time to go back to the first gate to ask if anyone had turned in the device before my connecting flight. So, I feared the worst… My Kindle may be gone for good. Just then, my cell phone rang from a number that I did not recognize. I answered the phone and, to my amazement, it was an Alaska Airlines customer service agent. She stated that they had found my Kindle in the seat pocket of my first flight and that she noticed the ID My Stuff label on the back with my name and cell phone number. She asked if I was still in the airport and said she would do her best to get it to me right away.

The wonderful Alaska Airlines agent borrowed an airport golf cart and was able to get my Kindle back to me before my next flight departed. I was thrilled to have my Kindle back in-hand, truly before I could even really miss it. The ID My Stuff label had absolutely saved the day! Without that ID label, it most likely would have been weeks before I got the device back – if even at all.

Mark Trumper
CEO
MaverickLabel.Com

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Labels are not simply tags used to identify items, materials, or products.  Labels and stickers are used as an effective means for promotion, identification, tracking, warning, awareness, mailing, safety, and much, much more!

Of the more common commercial uses, labels are used to promote public figures (campaign bumper stickers, for example) and to sell product.  The labeling or packaging of a product can and does serve to help items “stand out” from other, similar items and lead consumers to purchase one product over the other.  Imagine grocery shopping.  What makes you choose one item on the shelf over another?  More often than not, it is the label on the product that influences your decision.

Labels today are manufactured in a multitude of ways and looks.  There are literally dozens of choices for the label stock and finish.  Everything from plain white and fluorescent colors to glossy and hologram stocks and films are used to impact the look-and-feel of the final printed label.  There are even domed labels to add extract pizzazz to certain jobs.  And, for many label products, you can choose from additional features such as:  Aqueous coating; UV inks / finishes; Indoor / outdoor materials; Tamper-resistant or tamper-evident stocks; Permanent / semi-permanent / or removable adhesives; and even more.

Labels are used in both business and personal matters on a daily basis.  Take the obvious use of labels for sending packages, letters, and other mail to clients, friends, and family for instance.  Even this most basic use of a label has dozens, if not hundreds, of options.  From simple return address labels and basic “to / from” labels – to complex integrated shipping label / form combinations – mailing labels are a common staple in today’s modern environment.

So, what are labels really used for?  To make a long story short, labels are used for just about any / every purpose imaginable – both in the business world and in your home.  Labels help businesses keep track of inventory or possessions, promote products, announce new features, and keep workers safe from hazards.  In our personal lives, labels help us choose the food we eat, the products we buy, and also direct us on how and when to use certain many of the items in our homes.

Mark Trumper

CEO

MaverickLabel.Com

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Asset tags are used to both identify and keep track of personal and business property.  Applying asset tags to your possessions is a simple, yet highly effective means of preserving your valuables.

Asset tags are used on a variety of products and a vast array of situations, including indoor / outdoor, cold / warm temperatures, and much more.  Below is a listing of the top five uses we’ve seen for our asset tags over the past several years…

Theft Prevention
Products and equipment that are clearly marked and identifiable are much less likely to be stolen.

Equipment Tracking
Asset tags are commonly used by businesses to keep track of tools, equipment, and electronics.  Additionally, most banks now require you to show proof of business assets when applying for loans.  Using asset tags, with an accompanying database, provides quick and easy proof of your company’s valuable equipment, computers, or other assets.

Lost / Stolen Item Recovery
Lost or stolen items marked with asset tags can be easily identified and returned to the rightful owner.  (Imagine leaving your cell phone or laptop at the airport.  If it were labeled with an asset tag, airport personnel could easily identify the owner and return it to you.)

Insurance Records
In the unfortunate event of loss or theft of an item – or even worse a fire or natural disaster striking your business – your item’s serial number, description, and other information will be readily available for insurance reimbursement purposes.

Visual Reminders
Asset tags help to remind you of upcoming service contracts, expiring lease / maintenance agreements, and more.

Asset tags can be configured in a multitude of different ways and are commonly manufactured on quality, long-lasting materials like aluminum, stainless steel, metalized polyester, Mylar, and even tamper-resistant stocks.  Asset tags can be formatted with bar codes, numbers, lettering, or even your company logo.

So, what can asset tags do for your business?  Visit our Asset Tags page for even more information and additional examples of asset tag usage!

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Edmonds, WA (PRWEB) October 12, 2009 — MaverickLabel.Com®, a leading custom printed label manufacturer, has received a patent on their technology for consolidating multiple quoting systems into one customer interface. The job quoting technology, with the registered trademark “UberQuoter®”, has the ability to access multiple quoting engines–be they simple tables, complex databases, or real-time algorithms– and retrieve product information in order to deliver an optimized quote for the printing of custom labels.

Ordering product labels can be a complex process with many product variables such as label shape, material, number of colors, laminate type, etc. There are also parameters for how the labels should be received by the customer: the total quantity, the amount per shipment, the timeframe for delivery, etc. Each specification changes how the order could be completed. MaverickLabel.Com’s UberQuoter® technology uses a decision support system to integrate the various specifications provided by the customer and provide a set of quotes that is presented by price or delivery time.

The patent is for a technology that we are only beginning to capitalize on. The UberQuoter has the potential to incorporate more and more technologies on the back end. And, for our customers, it holds immense opportunity to help them through the ordering process, improve their experience, and get the right product to them, at the best price, with optimum turnaround time.

The web experience taps into the idea of having an expert guide [the customer] through the choices to ensure that the finished product is correct

Perhaps a certain kind of material they’ve selected can’t be embossed; if embossing is an important feature to them, then the quoter alerts the customer so they can make a different selection right then.

And it’s never done

We are constantly adding to the website and the decision support system. As our business and technologies expand, so will the UberQuoter®.

From a manufacturing and delivery perspective, MaverickLabel.Com has different presses, manufacturing capabilities, and locations. Different production methods (e.g. digital, flexographic, offset, hot stamp, silkscreen, etc.) dictate which machines and locations could handle the order. The UberQuoter® technology enables MaverickLabel.Com to manage their resources while providing an instant quote to the customer. Plus it allows the company to bring new technologies to the customer quickly, integrating them into the quoting system as they are brought on line.

Rick Kent, president and “Chief Science Officer” of MaverickLabel.Com, comments, “The patent is for a technology that we are only beginning to capitalize on. The UberQuoter has the potential to incorporate more and more technologies on the back end. And, for our customers, it holds immense opportunity to help them through the ordering process, improve their experience, and get the right product to them, at the best price, with optimum turnaround time.”

The UberQuoter® technology integrates the decision support system into the label order specification page on the website. From a website usability and customer-satisfaction perspective, the technology helps the customer as they input their information; much like an expert at a label shop would help the customer with their order. “The web experience taps into the idea of having an expert guide [the customer] through the choices to ensure that the finished product is correct,” explains Kent. “Perhaps a certain kind of material they’ve selected can’t be embossed; if embossing is an important feature to them, then the quoter alerts the customer so they can make a different selection right then.”

When the company began in 1994 there were no formal quoting systems online. Instead proprietary techniques were used to provide pricing to their customers. Eventually the team built an algorithm-based quoting system targeted at just one of their printing technologies. As the company added more capabilities and manufacturing systems, each required a separate quoting engine, which led to customer confusion on which quoter to use. At that point MaverickLabel.Com decided they needed to develop a streamlined system that helps their customers through the quoting process. From this, the UberQuoter technology was born.

“And it’s never done,” says Kent. “We are constantly adding to the website and the decision support system. As our business and technologies expand, so will the UberQuoter®.”

About MaverickLabel.Com

MaverickLabel.Com offers hundreds of custom and stock label products, in a secure, online environment. In addition, the company has one of the most comprehensive ordering systems available, including online proofing and online design tools for most items. Visit http://www.mavericklabel.com/ for more information

Contact

Mark Trumper, CEO
MaverickLabel.Com
800.537.8816
http://www.mavericklabel.com/

# # #

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“We’re planting a tree for every customer placing an order with us,” said Mark Trumper, MaverickLabel.Com® CEO.  “We are constantly striving to find ways to reduce our ecological impact and this program helps us accomplish this goal while actively giving back to the environment,” he went on to say.

In this new initiative, MaverickLabel.Com® will plant a tree in honor of every label customer placing an order through the company’s website. The initial donation will ensure the planting of thousands of new trees through the end of 2009.

“We understand the impact the printing industry has on the environment and we’re doing our part to replace resources used by the industry as a whole.  We’re proud of our ongoing green initiatives, with the use of eco-friendly and biodegradable label stocks and inks, and are even prouder still of this new tree planting initiative” Mr. Trumper added.  “We make every effort to be environmental stewards in all aspects of our business and are delighted to sponsor this tree donation program.”

Mr. Trumper also noted that… “This program fits hand-in-hand with Maverick’s company-wide philosophy of being environmentally conscious and our internal efforts on office recycling and development of a paperless work environment.”

Trees for the Future has helped communities around the globe plant trees since 1989.  With more than 65 million trees planted in thousands of areas throughout Central America, Africa, and Asia, the Trees for the Future organization provides technical knowledge on agroforestry and sustainable development, along with planting materials, so that communities can return dwindling lands and diminished farms back to productive, sustainable conditions.

MaverickLabel.Com® offers hundreds of label products, in a secure online environment. In addition, the company has one of the most comprehensive ordering systems available, including online proofing and design online for most items.

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To participate, all you have to do is join the Flickr group and submit a photo. If you’re not a member of Flickr, you can join here

After 500 members have joined the group, one group member will win $100, and here’s the kicker–the winner will be decided by you all via popular vote!  First, the top 15 photos will be selected by the Flickr group administrators. Then you will have an opportunity to vote on the best wine label photo.  After the voting period ends, the person with the most votes will win the $100, and the person with the second highest total of votes will receive a special honorable mention award.  Payment will be made via Paypal.

So, get crackin’.  Start adding your photos to the official Maverick Label Flickr group today.  Click here to go to the group.

Please note that in order to win, you must join the Flickr group.

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Kids collected cheap stickers of all kinds – scratch and sniff, puffy stickers, metallic stickers, stickers with celebrity faces, cartoon icons, you name it.  They put them in sticker books, and they would show them to their friends.  They traded stickers, gave them as gifts, and proudly displayed them in their books and on many surfaces in their rooms.

What was the big deal?

Click the Image to Visit the ZUMIEZ Facebook Group / Fan Page

When Stan Avery used a $100 investment to build a machine to make self-adhesive labels, did he know that he was paving the way to a pop-culture phenomenon?  Maybe he thought that the brightly colored My Little Pony labels and the baseball-card-sized Star Wars stickers were an aberration to the business.  Mostly likely, though, he saw them as good business.

Those stickers, so coveted in the 1980’s, had their humble beginnings on a machine made from a washing machine motor, a saber saw, and a bunch of sewing machine parts.  Up until Avery got his idea most labels were not self-adhesive, meaning you had to get them wet to activate the stickiness.

From this simple beginning, novelty stickers evolved into all sorts of shapes, sizes, textures and smells.  That’s right.  Smells.  One manufacturer of scratch and sniff stickers, Mello Smello, produced a wide range of scented labels, as well as foil labels and other popular types of collectible stickers.

As for scratch and sniff stickers, they are still very much sought after by collectors, therefore Mello Smello still makes them. Vintage scratch and sniff stickers from the 80’s are a novelty to a collector, but since the smell can eventually go away, collectors also like new ones.  It does take a lot for the smell to go away.  The technology used to produce scratch and sniff stickers utilizes a process called micro-encapsulation.  The smell is surrounded by tiny, easily breakable capsules that break open when you scratch them.  There are so many micro-capsules in one sticker that the smell lasts a very long time.

There are a few scents of scratch and sniff stickers that are very exclusive.  One with a lemonade pitcher that smells like lemons is extremely hard to find.  Another that smells like roses is also sought after.  One that smells like eucalyptus is so exclusive that it was never sold in stores, only given to Mello Smello’s fan club members.

Other sought-after stickers are Star Wars stickers.  An entire collection of Star Wars stickers and trading cards will fetch more than $2000 on eBay.  Super hero stickers will also still fetch a high price.  With modern pop culture’s obsession with all things 80’s, it would seem that the interest in stickers has risen in the past few years.

These days it’s easy to get your own labels made.  You can market your business, your band, your family reunion, or your new child with a roll of custom labels.  If the “sticker renaissance” continues, some day your custom stickers could be part of someone’s vintage collection.

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So, what is a brand, you might ask?  And, how do you know if you have one?  Well, every company has a brand.  But, truth be told, you don’t always own your own brand.  Your brand is really the perception of your business and is controlled by your customers, products, vendors, customer service agents, and yes – even your company labels.

Your Image Is Your Brand

Scary thought, I know.  But, everything about your company is indeed your “brand.”  Many companies carefully choose their employees, provide customer service training, spend lots of money on their stationery and business cards, and have a large marketing budget.  But, many of these same companies often overlook an item that is seen by customers who order a product, have something delivered, or receive packages from these companies – the label!

That’s where MaverickLabel.Com can help.  We specialize in providing any type of label imaginable.  In business since 1994, MaverickLabel.Com provides a secure online environment for both designing and ordering labels of all types.  We make it easy for you to find the exact label you’re looking for with our Uber Quoter and our customer service team is available to assist you place your label order.

So, next time you’re thinking about your brand identity, consider enhancing your brand’s image with quality, professional labels from MaverickLabel.Com.

Mark Trumper
CEO
MaverickLabel.Com

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After a lengthy research and testing period, we have today officially added a new, Earth friendly label material – NatureFlex™ biodegradable label films – to our extensive label stock selection.

Perfectly suited for products like food and beverage labeling, as well as high-impact nutraceutical and pharmacy product packaging, NatureFlex™ label films are made of regenerated cellulose, which starts as wood pulp.  NatureFlex™ has been proven to fully biodegrade in as little as 16 weeks – making this a truly environmentally conscious label material.

MaverickLabel.Com® proudly offers the NatureFlex™ label film in 1.8 mil White and Clear choices on many of our most popular products, including our process color labels.

To ensure MaverickLabel.Com® customers would be completely satisfied with this new label stock material, we spent countless hours over several months performing both indoor and outdoor quality tests.  And, the results of these tests were fantastic.  Labels printed on NatureFlex™ stock both looked great and had tremendous durability.

We are constantly striving to do our part to be more Earth sensitive and this product is a perfect fit to our existing label stock material choices.

Find more details about NatureFlex™ label stock at our Process Color Labels product page…
http://www.mavericklabel.com/process_color.html

Mark Trumper, CEO
MaverickLabel.Com®
800.537.8816

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