A product label is easy to decipher when you avoid reading it as a single chunk of text. The front of the product usually catches the reader’s eye with the product name, the image of the product, color, and promotional claims. The information that will allow you to make a careful evaluation is usually found on the sides and back panels: composition, material, net quantity, storage information, warnings, batch information, and usage instructions. Reading it in this direction avoids having the large statement on the front of the label color how you assess the entire product.
Practice this process with any household product that has a package. Without turning it over, write down what you can only read from the front panel. Write exactly what the name of the product, product category, product use, and amount is. Note any promotional claims, for example, concentrated, long-lasting, natural, or enhanced. Do not take them to be measures of quality yet. These claims are simply another form of labeling. At this point in the labeling process, they have not yet been separated from information that can be measured or verified.
Now read the sides of the product. This is usually where you will find the composition, material, dimensions, model, concentration, count, and other specifications of the product. Notice the unit of measure. Grams, milliliters, liters, centimeters, percent, and piece count each have different implications and should be clearly distinguished. A larger package might contain less content, while an imposing percentage may only be about a single ingredient, not the total amount.
On the back panel is how a product is used, handled, and stored. Take note of any limitations, for example, temperature, humidity, shelf life, cleaning requirements, or use limitations. Are the instructions appropriate for this product category? The storage section is not merely filler; the explanation of how the product should be stored helps you understand how heat, light, humidity, pressure, or poor handling might affect the product before it gets used.
Pay separate attention to small, hard-to-find markings. Look for markings that include batch information, a product’s date of manufacture, icons or symbols, recycling instructions, and approval logos for safety. Such details can easily be missed when a label has them in low-contrast color, or when they have been printed near the product edge. It might even require reading aid, for example, a magnifying glass. However, do not guess at markings you cannot read; write “marking found but illegible” rather than trying to fill in the details. This is an instance where being accurate about being unsure is much better than being inaccurate.
A common stumbling block for the beginning student is copying down the information from the whole product label without sorting what matters. It is useful to have a product labeling worksheet that helps you record identification, composition or material, quantity, instructions, storage information, warnings, and visible marking in separate sections. Then record a separate line for any promotional claims. This organization makes it much easier to compare what the manufacturer provides as factual consumer information against claims used to create interest in the product.
Return to your first impression of the product after reading the package from front to back. Determine whether your detailed information from the product label supported your initial impression, changed your impression, or did not address your questions entirely. You may find that two bold, dramatic front-of-the-package claims are simply describing very ordinary features about the product, while a simple storage detail has a lot more to do with handling and use. This is why you should read the product label from front to back.