In an evolving regulatory landscape, product packaging is under increasing pressure to do more than ever before.
Consumers, regulators, governments and advocacy groups alike are demanding greater transparency, driving the need for brands to communicate more detailed information directly on-pack.
From ingredient sourcing and allergen declarations to environmental impact and ethical claims, extended content labels (ECLs, including peel & read labels, booklet labels and concertina labels) are a vital solution for managing the growing complexity of labelling.
Let’s explore how changing regulations are reshaping packaging strategies and why extended content labels are becoming essential tools for compliance and consumer engagement.
What are Extended Content Labels?
ECLs are multi-layer labels that expand to reveal additional content. This form of label offers a way to present mandatory disclosures, usage instructions, and marketing narratives without sacrificing design or readability.
There are many variations of ECLs, including booklet labels, peel & read labels, concertina labels and hinged labels.
As global regulations tighten, particularly in sectors like food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, the traditional single-layer label often falls short in meeting legal requirements.
New rules around traceability, sustainability, and health warnings are pushing companies to rethink how they deliver critical product information at the point of sale.
Extended content labels are the innovative, scalable printing solution to this issue.
The Regulatory Shift: Why More Information is Needed
Regulations are constantly evolving and updating. Packaging must reflect these changes to promote legal compliance, protect public health, and maintain competitive advantages.
What needs to be included on your packaging?
Depending on the regulations in your industry, there are a wide range of elements that must be included on your labelling and packaging designs. Some examples include:
- Mandatory allergen information
- Ingredient listings and nutritional information
- Weights and volumes
- Potential hazards (GMOs, alcohol content)
- Medical requirements
- Waste sorting information
- Additional languages
This is often a large amount of information to display on a single-ply label. Thus, brands often opt for multiple pages to meet these stringent requirements. Especially in markets such as chemicals and personal care.
How does it need to be displayed?
Not only do you need to consider which information to include on your packaging and labelling – but you must also consider how it is displayed.
Regulatory information is often required to be produced in specific fonts, at a minimum size, and should be strategically placed for consumer visibility.
Translations and language variations are also required in certain markets. All these requirements are to ensure the safety of the consumer as well as reducing implications for brands if something was to go wrong with a product such as an allergic reaction.
Strict Labelling Laws and Regulations
Different countries have variations in their labelling laws, particularly concerning products such as food, chemicals and cosmetics.
For example, the EU Food Information to Consumers (FIC) regulation mandates allergen visibility, nutritional information and country-of-origin details to be displayed on packaging.
In the US, the FDA requires clearer nutritional facts and added sugar disclosures, while HFSS regulations in the UK demand high fat, sugar and salt content warnings to be shown on pack.
For the chemical industry, CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging) regulations set strict standards for how hazardous substances must be classified and communicated to ensure consumer and environmental safety. These rules require clear pictograms, signal words, and hazard and precautionary statements to appear on packaging — often in multiple languages for international markets.
When selling products across multiple countries, it is crucial to account for each market’s regulatory requirements. Some brands choose multi-page labels such as booklet or peel-and-reveal labels to include extensive content in one design. Others prefer country-specific versions — a strategy that works well for brands managing different language or ingredient regulations.
At All4Labels, we support brands with both approaches. Providing multi-page extended content labels and digitally printed variants produced to short lead times with no minimum order quantities (MOQs).
Health and Safety
Health and safety information is amongst the most important information to be displayed on packaging.
The use of symbols, text and images conveys safety messages concerning product usage. In food, alcohol, tobacco, chemicals and cosmetics, health and safety are a priority.
Some examples of how you may see this on packaging includes in Australia and the UK, graphic health warnings are displayed on packaging, in the US, fact boxes are included on over-the-counter medicines and cosmetics in the EU must have sufficient information about allergens, usage and expiry dates.
Ensuring health and safety information is appropriately and sufficiently placed on packaging is an important step in maintaining regulatory compliance. Particularly in global markets.
Therefore, it is important to have enough space to display this crucial information! ECLs are often crucial to brands who produce products with numerous health and safety warnings. Although, some of this information must be displayed front and centre.
Multilingual Requirements
Multilingual requirements are not exclusive to Global brands anymore. Stringent labelling requirements, including sustainability, traceability and health and safety, must be translated into multiple languages in certain markets.
This is a prime example, and likely one of the most common examples, of when brands need extra space on their label. Extended content labels such as booklet labels and peel and read labels allow you to add multiple languages to products. Thus, meeting the needs of Global customers and speaking their language.
Sustainability and Environmental Consideration
Modern regulations, including the 2025 EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations (PPWR), highlight a significant step towards a circular economy. This is designed to target the reduction of waste and the promotion of sustainability.
Similar global initiatives, like the EU Green Deal and California’s Truth in Labelling for Recyclable Materials, consider the end-of-life cycle of packaging.
The prioritisation of sustainability is crucial for brands, particularly in displaying the relevant information on their packaging.
Our Global STAR Portfolio includes ‘STARDOUBLE™’, which is a multi-layer pressure sensitive label with reduced emissions. This sustainable ECL solution saves up to 30% material usage and can be printed in up to 5 pages to include additional information and ensure your product meets stringent regulations.
How Extended Content Labels Preserve Your Brand Design
We have discussed in length how extended content labels can help you to meet the above-mentioned regulations. However, extended content labels also preserve the integrity of your packaging design.
The use of wraparounds, foldouts and hinged labels enable brands to include mandatory and voluntary content without cluttering or reducing the commercial effect of your packaging designs.
They provide much needed space for the extra required information that doesn’t quite fit with your design layout. All while reducing the need for separate leaflets and bigger packaging.
Cosmetics containers, for example, are often small and are specifically designed this way. However, there are evolving regulations that need to be included, and increasing the size of the containers often isn’t a viable option.
ECLs facilitate this essential balance of legal compliance and consumer appeal.
All4Labels UK Extended Content Label Solutions
At All4Labels UK, we have a number of extended content label solutions to add more space to your labels. Be that for regulatory information, additional languages or even more artwork!
REVEALABEL® – The Digital Solution
Our Hull site, which is a 100% digital-print dedicated site, can produce 2- and 3-page peel and reveal labels.
These digitally printed multi-layer labels feature a mount and base, of which the mount can be printed 1-sided or 2-sided dependant on your needs.
This digital label solution can also have a variable join. Which means that you can place the ‘peelable’ section wherever you desire! Enabling the mount label to peel away from the base label from either side, from the top or bottom, or from both sides towards the join if required, while remaining securely fastened to the product.
5 Page Peel & Reads
At our Leeds site, we can also produce up to 5-page peel & read labels. The fast in-line process allows us to produce these labels at high-speed. Ideal for longer runs and products that require high volumes of regulatory information or multiple languages.
Label on Label
By incorporating an additional label onto your label, we can create a ‘label on label’ construction. This adds a peel & read elements onto your label, without having the whole label peel back.
This is an ideal solution for allowing a large amount of text in a small area without disturbing your branding and artwork, and is often used in the personal care market.
Booklet Labels
Through our Global network of All4Labels print sites, we have a fully integrated system for in-house booklet label production. This allows maximum flexibility and a rapid time-to-market. Plus a wide range of customisation options when it comes to number of pages and construction.
Get in touch with our dedicated experts and let’s work together to craft compliant extended content labels with no compromise on design!