In the wake of a disaster, pre-packaged food can become a matter of life and death, and bottled water companies need to understand this when printing instructions about their product. Packaging food and beverage for later consumption can be influenced by the kind of circumstances in which they might be used, and with non-perishable items that could include relief efforts.
Such a situation seems to have come up in West Vriginia recently, with a spill of thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals affecting the Elk River in that region and contaminating much of the local water supply. Now, Reuters reports that everyone from residents to restaurants are dependent on the safety of bottled water to help avoid the danger.
According to the source, the chemical (4-methylcyclohexane methanol) behind this scare stems from Freedom Industries and could cause numerous health problems in victims, including symptoms of nausea and some skin abrasions.
The spill has so far left around 300,000 people dependent on easily accessible alternate sources of water, and because of the potential pervasiveness of this spill, this outside water is especially important. The state’s governor, Earl Ray Tomblin, issued a statement regarding this effort and his attempts to help citizens recover.
“Right now, our priorities are our hospitals, nursing homes, and schools,” he said. “I’ve been working with our National Guard and Office of Emergency Services in an effort to provide water and supplies through the county emergency services offices as quickly as possible.”
When times get tough like this, bottled water companies can have a special responsibility to make their product easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to share. All of these things can come from well-organized labeling solutions.
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