Product security and protection are essential to the safety and
quality of products, as well as the integrity of your brand. From protecting products during the shipping process to keeping them safe on the shelves of stores, tamper evident packaging is a great tool to ensure what’s inside the package ends up in the consumer’s hand just as the retailer intended. Tamper evident packaging is even known to improve the shelf life of certain products, as they prevent potentially harmful elements from damaging the product.
4 Types of Tamper Evident Packaging
1. Shrink Bands
Shrink bands, which are sometimes known as seal bands, are one of the most common types of tamper evident plastic materials. These small plastic sleeves are shrunk around product containers and are typically perforated for user-friendliness. Pill bottles, pickle jars, eye-droppers, and cough medicine can often be found with a shrink band wrapped around the cap of the product. If products that use a shrink band show evidence of damage, the product has likely been contaminated and should be removed from shelves.
2. Over Wraps
An over wrap is a piece of plastic film that wraps around a product and is sealed with heat or adhesives. Cellophane plastic coverings are one example of over wraps, and they differ from shrink films in that over wrap is wrapped around the product, while shrink film is plastic that shrinks down to form around the product. Another benefit of shrink wraps is that they can be coded or branded with your company’s custom logo, text, and colors, plus they are eco-friendly since they use less plastic than traditional packaging.
3. Lidding Films
Lidding films are a plastic or metal lid that can often be found on yogurt containers and over the counter pain medication bottles. Sealed around the edges and removed by a pull tab, lidding films make it very clear when a container has been tampered with before purchase. One drawback to lidding films, however, is that they are not always made from the strongest materials. The tab of a lidding film might fall off before a product is purchased, which makes it a bit more inconvenient to open.
4. Induction Seals
Most commonly found on pharmaceutical products, food, and liquid containers with long shelf lives, induction seals help keep products from leaking. They can also help preserve freshness and alert customers of any tampering that may have occurred before purchase. Induction seals are most often made from aluminum, wax, paper pulp, or plastic, with a plastic pull tab protruding from the top, and they are a more secure type of seal compared to shrink wrapping.
Opening a pill bottle before purchasing, testing out a cosmetic product in-store, and breaking the seal of a food product are all examples of product tampering. This can ultimately decrease the value of your product, which can lead to a loss of sales if it happens frequently. To avoid losing a customer's trust, it's best to look into tamper evident packaging solutions to help preserve the quality of the products you sell.
GCB Solutions has the packaging industry experience to help you through shifting trends. We offer custom packaging services, including carton erecting and filling, taping, gluing, coding, and labeling using state-of-the-art equipment. Whether you are beginning the design process or looking to make that final push to launch, we can help. Call us at (904) 263-2804 or schedule a free consultation, today!
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