Really random question for supermarket workers...

[GrubbyMcGee]

I'm sorry this is so incredibly random and pointless but Google hasnt been able to answer my incredibly random and pointless question that now it's really bothering me (clearly I have very little going on in my life right now...)

Anyway, I bought a bottle of listerene today. I went to check the ingredients and there was a plain white sticker over them. So I pulled it off to see and noticed the sticker had a black back to it. My first thought was it was a security sticker that would set off the alarms should any mouth wash thieves be at large. Boredom led me to googling and security stickers seem to have a network of wires on the back. I cant find what the point of this plain white sticker with a black adhesive side is for and now I really want to know.

I chucked it in the bin so cant find to photograph or I would. But can anyone tell me what this sticker would have been for. A other thought was to censor the ingredients if they are incorrect on the bottle 🤔

I have an enquiring mind that wonders about the most monotonous of things. I am fully aware of this.

Maybe it is to fool would be thieves into thinking there is a security sticker on it, but there isn't really.

If it contains alcohol it may ping the scanner to check that you look of age ?

I've had plain stickers over the ingredients list before and when I've peeled it off the list was written in a foreign language. This has been on things bought from pound shops or bargain store type places.

Ingredients list was in English. What on earth are white stickers with a black back for...? I cant even find an example of one on the internet!

Today I have learned about myself, that if I cant get an answer for even the most mundane of things then it BOTHERS me 😂

It's a security tag. Bad placement though, it's not supposed to be over any information that the customer might need.

Is it not a security sticker that gets deactivated at the till point?

I should add I work in Tesco and we try not to use these unless we are desperate because they are too big for health and beauty items. They've probably run out and are waiting for more to come in and the white ones are all that's left.

I found it!! Its a block out label! So there must have been an error on the ingredients list of the batch

So i think it wouldnt have been put on by the supermarket, it would have been added in the factory when they realised there was an error on the packaging... I guess it's cheaper than redoing the packaging

Yeah it's a security tag, it'll be deactivated when it's scanned through the checkout. Badly placed by the sounds of it

@GrubbyMcGee usually if there's an error it gets pulled and recalled. I've never heard of a block out label and had to google it myself. The white stickers are just blank so anything can be printed onto them but they are definitely security tags, well in Tesco they are.

Now I am the one who is confused! So far you found two answers

Was going to say, sounds like something done during production to fix an error before it went to shelves. Much easier to stick a label over incorrect info than to pull the bottle's labels off and rework the entire batch! Surprised it was allowed to go out to shelves if the ingredients on the label were incorrect enough to require being blocked out though 🤔

yes we have them in our store

was it near the barcode? usually when scanned the scanner should deactivate it....our security alarms sound if its not hit the scanner

expertlabels.co.uk/applications/block-out-labels/

Definitely a block out label. Makes sense why it was over the ingredients.

It looked exactly like the example in the link (but left plain) so must have been as @maybelou says, something that was done in production

Thanks for your replies. I can now sleep easy having worked out the answer to possibly THE WORLD'S MOST BORING QUESTION

It's a security tag because it contains alcohol.
A block out tag can be used if, for example, an American product was imported, because the labelling requirements are different in UK, but would need the appropriate UK information printed on it.
Poor positioning though as its not legal to obliterate ingredients.

@GrubbyMcGee you cannot cover up a mistake on a label by law. If someone had an allergy how would they tell? You wouldn't believe the amount of stock that gets destroyed and written off because information is incorrect. The fines are huge for this type of thing so they get pulled off and destroyed. Honestly they are security tags, next time you go shopping try getting close to the security gates with a bottle of it and see what happens.

It's been put on in the factory to change the ingredients listing or some other information on the original label. Doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the product. Are loads of reasons why info on a label might need updating from a typo that got through the proofing process to labelling regulations changing. Is often cheaper/quicker to oversticker the old labels until the new ones come in.

"mouth wash thieves"??? I know we are living in crazy times but........"mouth wash thieves"???

I’m with @lunalucie I also work for Tesco it’s against the law to cover ingredients if it’s block out label like you say you need to go back and report it. It definitely sounds like the security labels that the till deactivates they don’t all have the ‘wires’. If someone had a reaction and they had used block out labels can you imagine the court case!

So security labels can have a plain black back? Because the label on it looked exactly like one of the block out labels. It was placed perfectly over the ingredients. If there is an error on the bottle and someone has a reaction then obviously that too would be a court case as they would have told the customer the wrong ingredients. Would they be required to reprint all the packaging in that case?