FDA relinquishing push for graphic cigarette labels

The United States has recently been having heated debates about food labels. Everyone from farmers to supermarket chains has an opinion about what is necessary to be printed on the nutritional facts box. However, another topic that regards the legality of warning labels has been pushed to the forefront of people’s minds.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) abandoned its idea to have graphic warning labels printed on cigarette packages and boxes. According to The Associated Press, a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder explained that the organization would find another advertising campaign that did not involve images of diseased lungs and the sewn-up corpse of a smoker.

The FDA had until Monday of this week to to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision, which upheld a ruling that the requirement violated First Amendment free speech protections.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and other major tobacco companies sued to block the mandate to include warnings on cigarette packs. The labels were part of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which gave the federal government authority to regulate tobacco for the first time ever.

The United States first started using warning labels on cigarette boxes in in 1965, and current ones, which feature a small box with text, were put on packs in the mid-1980s.

“In recent years, more than 40 countries or jurisdictions have introduced labels similar to those created by the FDA,” the AP explained. “The World Health Organization said in a survey done in countries with graphic labels that a majority of smokers noticed the warnings and more than 25 percent said the warnings led them to consider quitting.”

Regardless of a company’s product – food, drink or otherwise – it is important to grab customers’ attention while still adhering to any federal standards. By using a color label printer that can produce durable and attractive designs, any business can guarantee that it is able to design custom labels that are truthful and vibrant.