More than 30 major consumer-goods firms already have committed to using SmartLabel, a digital platform created by the Grocery Manufacturers Association to provide consumers with detailed product and brand information beyond what appears on labels.

Touted as a key component of GMA's Consumer Information Transparency Initiative announced in late 2014, SmartLabel and associated website smartlabel.org are still undergoing development, but the trade organization expects upwards of 30,000 products to be linked to the program by the end of 2017.

Though primarily targeted to the food and beverage industry, SmartLabel also will be used by personal-care, household and pet product marketers, GMA says, noting that some enrolled products are already rolling out to store shelves. The trade group projects that 80% of products in those segments will be SmartLabel-connected within five years.

"SmartLabel not only provides consumers access to information we have identified, but it also creates a mechanism for industry to provide consumers answers to questions that might arise in response to a trigger, like a news article, social media hype or blogs. SmartLabel creates a dialogue between your brand and the consumer," according to a Dec. 2 release from the trade group.

Procter & Gamble Co., Unilever, the Colgate-Palmolive Company andBurt's Bees owner the CloroxCompany are among early adopters, GMA says.

The SmartLabel site will house uniformly organized product landing pages accessible via web search, redirects from brands' own sites or QR code scans using smartphones at point of sale. GMA notes that getting QR codes in place can take time because it requires packaging redesigns from participating companies.

Manufacturers are invited to populate landing pages with information on ingredients, allergens, sourcing practices, product-usage and safe-handling instructions, health advisories, third-party certifications and sustainability programs, among other topics of interest.

In GMA's release, President and CEO Pamela Bailey, who formerly headed the Personal Care Products Council, offers perspective on the initiative.

“People want more information and are asking more questions about products they buy, use and consume, and SmartLabel puts detailed information right at their fingertips,” she says. “SmartLabel is a modern technology that will change how people shop and will help them get answers to questions they have on the products they purchase when they want that information.”

Bailey stepped down from PCPC's CEO role in 2008 to take the helm at GMA Also see "PCPC’s Mark Pollak Is Interim CEO With Bailey Off To Represent Food Industry" - HBW Insight, 15 December, 2008..

Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America, is similarly optimistic about the program. “As more and more consumers are looking for responsible and sustainable brands, SmartLabel can link consumers to information about how a brand integrates sustainability into its products’ ingredients and lifecycle,” he says.

“SmartLabel is an important tool for brands to provide more product information, helping build trust with consumers who are increasingly mobile and online," the exec adds.

QR Codes’ Utility Questioned

SmartLabel enters a space growing crowded with seals and certifications on product packaging regarding environmental responsibility, ingredient safety, animal testing status and other elements of increasing interest to shoppers.

The GMA program could simplify matters by routing consumers to a single site providing insight into all such aspects, the trade group suggests.

SmartLabel "is designed so that consumers can easily have access to a wide variety of information but can hone in on a question they have on an ingredient or product in just one or two clicks," GMA says.

More than 350 attributes can be included for each product in the first version of SmartLabel, most on a voluntary basis. Required attributes are those mandated by existing federal regulations, and all information disclosed must follow guidelines established by agencies such as FDA and the US Department of Agriculture.

Not all industry stakeholders are sold on SmartLabel's merits. Mary Ellen Kustin, senior policy analyst at the Environmental Working Group, came down hard on the program in a same-day blog post titled "Nothing Smart About 'SmartLabel.'"

EWG's concern about the platform stems largely from debate around mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms in the food sector. The NGO sees SmartLabel as a "phony alternative" to legislation requiring GMOs to be identified on product packaging.

Such legislation increasingly is being considered and passed at the state level, creating a challenging patchwork of requirements for food manufacturers. A $1.1t omnibus spending package signed into law by President Obama Dec. 18, which will fund federal government agencies through fall 2016, did not include an industry-backed rider that would have preempted state laws addressing GMO labeling.

According to EWG, SmartLabel comes up short as a means of communicating GMO use and other important information to consumers largely due to its reliance on QR codes.

QR (Quick Response) codes are matrix barcodes that contain data readable by smartphones and other mobile devices. Typically consumers scan the codes and are delivered to websites providing more information or special offers from associated brands.

However, EWG's Kustin points to a recent poll conducted by research strategy firm the Mellman Group in which only 16% of consumers said they have ever scanned a QR code. "In general, most consumers simply don’t use smartphones at the point of sale. It’s just not how we shop for food," she says.

Personal-care shoppers may be more prone to use mobile devices to research products as they browse cosmetics aisles, with other digital services such as the Think Dirty app, which rates products based on the safety of their ingredients, increasingly targeting the demographic Also see "App Targets “Dirty” Cosmetic Ingredients To Inform Consumer Decisions" - HBW Insight, 21 October, 2013..

But Kustin observes that more than 40% of consumers – particularly low-income, less educated and elderly individuals – don't have phones that can scan QR grids or product barcodes even if they were so inclined.

Further, SmartLabel QR codes will not necessarily include a "prompt" explaining the tool to shoppers who do own smartphones, the analyst says, "so consumers wouldn’t even know that scanning the code would give them more information."

According to Kustin, scanners may not work properly if the codes are too small, scanned in bad lighting or not on a flat surface, such as on a bag of potato chips. If consumers do reach the SmartLabel site, important information, including GMO details, will be "hidden" under the landing page's "Other" tab, she says.

GMA says a number of retailers have committed to helping shoppers with or without smartphones to access SmartLabel content through customer service desks in stores.

EWG: Voluntary Nature Undermines Value

Kustin also is critical of the voluntary nature of SmartLabel. "Companies can choose whether or not to include a code on their packages and can drop out of the program at any time. That’s crazy," she says.

Moreover, the program lacks enforcement mechanisms and deadlines for participating companies, the EWG analyst notes.

Finally, she suggests that QR codes pose privacy-protection concerns for consumers, as "companies can collect data on their location and preferences – without the consumers’ knowledge or permission."

EWG has long advocated for compulsory GMO labeling. The Mellman poll found that nine out of 10 consumers want mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods, the group says.

Labeling of foods derived from genetically engineered plants is voluntary under FDA guidance released in November 2015.

According to GMA, firms will disclose through SmartLabel if 20,000 products contain ingredients sourced from genetically engineered crops by the end of 2017. That number could triple "once a uniform national standard is set for GMOs," the trade association says.

The SmartLabel launch also came roughly one month after EWG introduced a new safety standard and seal for personal-care products – EWG Verified – which will draw from ingredient hazard information contained in the NGO's Skin Deep database to identify offerings deemed safe by the NGO Also see "'EWG Verified' Personal-Care Safety Seal Builds On 'Skin Deep' Platform" - HBW Insight, 4 November, 2015..

SmartLabel Billed As Product-Info Solution For Inquisitive Shoppers

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