{{Short description|Label on a product identifying risk of its use}} {{Multiple issues| {{more citations needed|date=October 2009}} {{Globalize|date=December 2014}} }} [[File:Marlboro red Old pack.jpg|thumb|Warning label on a cigarette pack: "Smoking kills". The earliest mandatory warning labels on cigarette packaging were implemented by the United States in 1966.<ref name=Hiilamo>{{cite journal |last1=Hiilamo |first1=H |last2=Crosbie |first2=E |last3=Glantz |first3=SA |title=The evolution of health warning labels on cigarette packs: the role of precedents, and tobacco industry strategies to block diffusion |journal=Tobacco Control |date=January 2014 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=e2 |doi=10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050541 |pmid=23092884 |pmc=3725195}}</ref>]] [[File:Personal watercraft warning sticker.jpg|thumb|Warning label for a personal watercraft]]
A '''warning label''' is a label attached to a product, or contained in a product's instruction manual, warning the user about risks associated with its use, and may include restrictions by the manufacturer or seller on certain uses.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Wogalter, Michael S. |url=https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781482289688_A38132118/preview-9781482289688_A38132118.pdf |title=Handbook of warnings |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8058-4724-6 |editor=Wogalter, Michael S. |location=Mahwah, New Jersey |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>
Some of them are legal requirements (such as health warnings on tobacco products). Most of them are placed to limit civil liability in lawsuits against the item's manufacturer or seller (see product liability).<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Egilman, D. |author2=Bohme, S. R. |url=https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781482289688_A38132118/preview-9781482289688_A38132118.pdf |title=Handbook of warnings |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8058-4724-6 |editor=Wogalter, Michael S. |location=Mahwah, New Jersey |chapter=Purposes and Scope of Warnings |name-list-style=amp}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Khoury, Clarke E.|year=1989|title=Warning Labels May Be Hazardous to Your Health: Common-Law and Statutory Responses to Alcoholic Beverage Manufacturers' Duty to Warn|journal=Cornell Law Review|volume=75|pages=158–188|url=https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3441&context=clr}}</ref> That sometimes results in labels which for some people seem to state the obvious.
Lack of a warning label can become an informational defect, which is a type of product defect.<ref>{{cite web |title=What Are Different Types of Product Defects and How Do they Affect Your Claim? |date=12 September 2022 |url=https://www.levininjuryfirm.com/product-defects-and-how-they-impact-claim/ |access-date=16 November 2024}}</ref>
Warning labels are found on various product packagings, such as chemicals (flammable, pesticide, poisons, etc.), batteries, tobacco, alcohol and other unhealthy foods.
== Effectiveness ==
thumb|Warning label for toxic chemicals Warning systems promote attention, comprehension, and protective behavior<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Laughery |first1=Kenneth R. |last2=Wogalter |first2=Michael S. |date=April 2006 |title=Designing Effective Warnings |journal=Reviews of Human Factors and Ergonomics |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=241–271 |doi=10.1177/1557234x0600200109 |issn=1557-234X}}</ref>. Research confirms that well-designed warnings based on scientific principles improve safety behavior, with effective warnings leading to greater compliance than their absence<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wogalter |first1=Michael S. |last2=Kalsher |first2=Michael J. |last3=Racicot |first3=Bernadette M. |date=August 1993 |title=Behavioral compliance with warnings: effects of voice, context, and location |journal=Safety Science |volume=16 |issue=5–6 |pages=637–654 |doi=10.1016/0925-7535(93)90028-c |issn=0925-7535}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brelsford |first1=John W. |last2=Wogalter |first2=Michael S. |last3=Scoggins |first3=James A. |date=October 1994 |title=Enhancing Comprehension and Retention of Safety-Related Pictorials |journal=Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting |volume=38 |issue=14 |pages=836–840 |doi=10.1177/154193129403801408 |issn=1071-1813}}</ref>. However, not all research finds a direct correlation between warning design and safety outcomes due to methodological differences (e.g., user population, context of use). Some studies suggest that prior benign experiences or high compliance costs may reduce warning effectiveness, emphasizing the need for more forceful design strategies. Comprehensive reviews of the literature indicate that the most reliable indicators of warning effectiveness are comprehension and behavioral compliance.
Meta-analytic reviews<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Eli P. |last2=Wogalter |first2=Michael S. |last3=Stokes |first3=Sara L. |last4=Murff |first4=Elizabeth J. Tipton |date=July 1997 |title=Do Product Warnings Increase Safe Behavior? A Meta-Analysis |journal=Journal of Public Policy & Marketing |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=195–204 |doi=10.1177/074391569701600201 |issn=0743-9156}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hancock |first1=P.A. |last2=Kaplan |first2=A.D. |last3=MacArthur |first3=K.R. |last4=Szalma |first4=J.L. |date=October 2020 |title=How effective are warnings? A meta-analysis |journal=Safety Science |volume=130 |article-number=104876 |doi=10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104876 |issn=0925-7535}}</ref> concluded that warnings increase safe behavior, stressing the need for testing with representative user groups. They found that the most effective strategy for boosting compliance is presenting uncluttered, task-integrated warnings in highly salient locations.
== Regulation by country ==
=== Chile === {{Main|Food labelling and advertising law (Chile)}}
=== European Economic Area ===
In the European Economic Area, a product containing hazardous mixtures must have a unique formula identifier (UFI) code. This is not a warning label per se, but a code that helps poison control centres identify the exact formula of a hazardous product.
=== Mexico === {{Main|Food labeling in Mexico}}
=== United States === {{See also|Quack Miranda warning}}The American National Standard Institute (ANSI) develops a wide range of industry voluntary standards. The ANSI Z535 Committee develops a set of standards for the design, application, and use of signs, colors and symbols intended to identify and warn against specific hazards and for other accident prevention purposes. The ANSI standards were developed to standardize warning systems content and format. They are informed by scientific input to maximize message recognition and comprehension with the aim of improving warning system effectiveness. The two standards most relevant to consumer product hazard signs are ANSI Z535.4: ''Product Safety Signs and Labels''<ref>{{Citation |title=An Overview of the ANSI Z535 Standards for Safety Signs, Labels, and Tags |date=2006-01-20 |work=Handbook of Warnings |pages=467–474 |url=https://doi.org/10.1201/9781482289688-53 |access-date=2026-01-13 |publisher=CRC Press |doi=10.1201/9781482289688-53 |isbn=978-0-429-17609-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and ANSI Z535.6: ''Product Safety Information in Product Manuals, Instructions, and Other Collateral Materials''. Studies indicate that warnings that were consistent with the ANSI Z535 standard were rated as being more noticed, read, and understood and they promoted greater compliance in comparison with warnings that were inconsistent with the standard<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Laughery |first1=Kenneth R. |last2=Paige |first2=Danielle L. |last3=Laughery |first3=Brenda R. |last4=Wogalter |first4=Michael S. |last5=Kalsher |first5=Michael J. |last6=Leonard |first6=S. David |date=September 2002 |title=Guidelines for Warnings Design: Do They Matter? |journal=Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting |volume=46 |issue=19 |pages=1708–1712 |doi=10.1177/154193120204601904 |issn=1071-1813}}</ref>.
In the United States, warning labels have been mandated under a number of different government organizations. For instance, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938.<ref>Federal Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act, Pub. L. No. 75-717, 52 Stat. 1040 (1938) (codified as amended at 21 U.S.C. §�� 301-99 (2006))</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Carlson |first1=Peter |title=Hey, the labels are kind of stupid, but don't say they didn't try to warn you |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/life/lifestyle/hey-the-labels-are-kind-of-stupid-but-dont-say-they-didnt-try-to-warn-you/ |work=The Seattle Times |date=6 November 2006 |access-date=February 23, 2008}}</ref> Cigarettes were not required to have warning labels in the United States until Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA) in 1965<ref>Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, Pub. L. No. 89-92, 79 Stat. 282 (1965) (codified as amended at 15 U.S.C. §§ 1331-40 (1970)).</ref> (in force in 1966<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=K. Michael Cummings |author2=Robert N. Proctor |date=12 January 2014 |title=The changing public image of smoking in the United States: 1964–2014 |journal=Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention |volume=23 |pages=32–36 |pmid=24420984 |doi=10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-13-0798 |doi-access=free |pmc=3894634 }}</ref>).
Other organizations that create label standards in the US — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) — govern their use. The US organizations pull from international organizations such as the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals and the International Standards Organization.
==Chemical hazard level warning labels== {{See also|Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals}}
In the United States<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rys |first1=John Van |last2=Meyer |first2=Verne |last3=Sebranek |first3=Patrick |title=The Business Writer |date=2006 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |page=567 |isbn=978-0-618-37087-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UR9SPAAACAAJ |language=en}}</ref> or elsewhere, the terms Danger, Warning and Caution are regulated by the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) ANSI Z535. Graphic symbols are regulated by ISO 7010.
{| class="wikitable" ! Term !! Hazard !! Meaning !! Usage |- ! Danger! | Highest level || Indicates severe injury or death ''certain to occur'' if not avoided. || Reserved for the most severe situations, often accompanied by symbols or pictograms that are universally recognized to quickly convey the risks involved even if the language is not recognized by the viewer. |- ! Warning! | Medium level || There is a ''potential'' hazard that could result in ''serious'' injury or ''death'' but is less immediate or severe or probable than those marked with "Danger." || Signals a need for caution and awareness of the potential risks, and, like "Danger," is often paired with symbols to facilitate quick recognition. |- ! Caution! | Lowest level || There is a ''potential'' hazard that could result in ''minor'' or ''moderate'' injury, or there is a risk of property damage. || Used in situations where the risks do not typically result in serious injury or death but where attention and care are still required. It advises individuals to proceed with caution to prevent accidents. |}
==See also== * Alcohol packaging warning messages * California Proposition 65 (1986) * Black box warnings mandated by the US Food and Drug Administration * Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals * Tobacco packaging warning messages * Hazard symbol * List of food labeling regulations * Nutri-Score
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{labeling}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Product liability Category:Safety Category:Labels