The Science of Cryogenic Labels

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Published: Sunday, 24 June 2018 21:57

While most of our freezer labels are used for labeling food, there's one category we make specifically for scientific and medical use: cryogenic labels. These special freezer labels must be able to handle extreme cold without deadening, breaking, or cracking, and some may have to last for many years.

It all depends on the equipment or containers the cryogenic labels are used on. For cryogenic suspension, the cryogenic labels may have to last for decades.

If you're wondering what cryogenic suspension is, it's basically the freezing of human bodies or body parts in hopes that the illnesses or injuries that killed those individuals might be treatable in the future, when they can be "thawed out" and repaired.

Obviously, these are very optimistic people, but who knows? They may have reason to be optimistic. And until they're revived, they'll need good cryogenic labels to make sure everyone who takes care of them knows who's who.

It would be embarrassing to have the first thing someone asks you when you woke up in the year 3012 be, "Okay, so who are you?" Assuming you could understand what they said. 

But we digress.

Some cryogenic labels may be used in cold electronics labs, because electronics work better at cool temperatures. Some work best at very cool temperatures, because electricity conducts almost effortlessly through some materials at cryogenic temperatures. This is especially important for experimental purposes.

However, most cryogenic labels are used for more prosaic purposes, like labeling containers and machinery used in cryogenic labs or freezers. Mostly, the materials they adhere to are made of easily sterilized steel, glass, or tough plastics.

This gives them a nice smooth surface to adhere to, but the real challenge, again, is for cryogenic labels to maintain tack (stickiness) no matter how cold it gets, which isn't easy when the mercury drops below Antarctic levels. 

These special freezer labels must be especially durable, with the capability of handling low temperatures as well. At the very least, they should be able to handle temperatures to well below -112° F. This is the freezing point of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide), which is often used for quick cooling and shipping, since it melts directly to a gas without a liquid state.

A good pressure sensitive cryogenic label also needs to be able to handle application while the item labeled is in a very cold state. Ours can handle temperatures as low as -20° F, as long as the surface to which they're applied is dry and clean. 

Need some dependable cryogenic labels? We'll be glad to print some for you or provide blank versions you can print for your own use. Just call us or use our quote form to get a quote ASAP.

The True Meaning of Meat Labels

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Published: Tuesday, 05 June 2018 13:01

What is meat? And with that comes another question: what are meat labels?

The answer to the first question may seem obvious to most people, but it can depend on your culture, your dialect of English, and the era is which it was spoken.

Originally, "meat" was any form of solid food, just as "corn" was any grain, not just maize. It's still used that way sometimes in British English.

If you've ever heard the Pink Floyd song "Another Brick in the Wall," you may recall hearing an old man shouting, "If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" In the U.S. we'd say, "If you don't eat your dinner, you can't have any dessert! How can you have any dessert if you don't eat your dinner?" 

In modern terms, however, "meat" almost always refers to the flesh of an animal, at least in the U.S. and the U.K. Exceptions are rare, so we'll use this definition for frozen meat labels.

If they go on other edibles, we're going to keep calling them frozen vegetable labels, or frozen fruit labels, or pizza labels, or even sausage labels, even though sausage is a form of meat—perhaps loosely defined sometimes, but meat nonetheless.

Yes, okay, meat labels can be complicated, just like all other freezer labels and refrigerator labels. But they don't have to be, if you follow the rules. Now, due to some shenanigans on the part of meat packers in the late 1800s (read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle for the horrific details), meat labels must adhere to more rigid codes than most freezer labels.

Every type of meat product (including the famous "mechanically separated chicken") must be included in the list of ingredients, which is why you sometimes see long, fascinating contents stories on potted meat, Vienna sausage, and hot dog packages.

Also, they often specify the national source of the meat, as well as (for seafood labels) goodies like whether it was source from a sustainable animal population. Many meat labels also note whether the products meet Halal and Kosher dietary standards.

As a long-time freezer label producer, we've got the knowledge and experience to ensure your meat labels include everything they're supposed to, and we'll make them in-house for a reasonable price and on a reasonable schedule. To learn more, send us a quote request!

The Many Uses of Freezer Stickers

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Published: Sunday, 13 May 2018 00:57

How do we love thee, freezer stickers? Let us count the ways...

No, no, that would be silly. Not the counting, but the poetry. Sad to say, freezer labels of any kind are not exactly poetry in motion. They're more appropriate for poultry without motion. The frozen kind, you see. All it takes is the right freezer stickers and knowing how to label frozen food, and you're good to go.

There are special freezer labels made to withstand the supremely chilly cold and moisture of liquid nitrogen, because it's a really good idea to label frozen genetic materials, heads, and whole bodies that are supposed to last centuries before hopefully being revived in the far future. (Can you imagine the revival tax? A toe here, a kidney there, or that spare eye since you've got two?). Most freezer stickers are made for frozen foods and only have to protect to maybe 20 below zero. The best, like ours, can handle temperatures down to 60 degrees below, even colder, without giving up. 

Freezer stickers make wonderful ice cream labels, pizza labels, sausage labels, meat labels, popsicle labels, meatsicle labels... though we suspect that last wouldn't go over too well in the edibles market. But sausages are pretty much the same, right? And we make the best sausage labels ever. In fact, you never sausage labels! (Get it? Eh?)

Refrigerator labels and freezer stickers alike are a mainstay of the frozen food industry, the products of which make up a significant portion of any grocery store. Not only is cold the best way to preserve foods like meats, cheeses, and vegetables, we can't live without our frozen sweets. Life just wouldn't be the same. In 2015, when a Listeria outbreak closed down Blue Bell Creameries—a regional manufacturer of ice cream that's nonetheless the fourth bestselling brand in the U.S.—the result was a widespread wailing and gnashing of teeth, mostly in the South and Southwest, as millions of consumers had to make do with store brands. Texans in particular suffered from Blue Bell withdrawals, as that's where Blue Bell began. And not surprisingly, ice cream labels suffered a dip in sales too for the 3-5 months Blue Bell was unavailable. We're kind of surprised people weren't trying to sell it on eBay, like they did with Tickle-Me Elmos when they became scarce.

Clearly, freezer stickers are important, because frozen goods are important—they're a huge part of the economy. We're proud of our role as part of the freezer sticker provider network, and we're very proud of our high-quality fridge and freezer labels in general Furthermore, we pledge that Etiquette Systems will never be shut down due to a Listeria outbreak. We may have to revise that promise if we ever print edible freezer labels, but until then, it's 100% guaranteed!

How Tough Are YOUR Icy Ice Cream Labels?

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Published: Sunday, 29 April 2018 15:42

If there's one thing you know your ice cream labels are going to have to face, it's ice. After all, it's right there in the name. One might forgive someone for forgetting that when dealing with popsicle labels or frozen yogurt and smoothie labels, but—well, wait a minute.

You know what? It should be pretty obvious that any frozen confection, which tends to start out liquid or semi-liquid, is going to involve ice and will require the appropriate freezer labels. Anyone who can't figure that out will soon be out of business, unless they're the owner's son. 

But we digress. There are certain answers to the question of "Where can I buy freezer labels for my ice cream at a decent price?" that you should avoid. Office supply store? Nope. Dollar store? Uh, no. Cheesy label reseller? Probably not. Label wholesaler? Maybe.

Cryogenic freezer label manufacturer? Well... they're fine for freezing heads for decades, but too expensive for use as ice cream labels, unless said ice cream is made with gold flakes in it (and of course, there are such confections.) Etiquette Systems? Definitely!

You know, our ice cream labels would work for gold-flake ice cream too. You could either have us print a really spiffy ice cream label complete with logo, ingredients, and the rest of that required stuff, or we could hook you up with partially printed or write on freezer labels you can sign and number like limited edition prints.

Hey, if there are people willing to spend $1,000 on a gold flake ice cream sundae (and there are), then you could be missing (ahem) a gold mine hiding in plain sight. Just slip us some cash of you use the idea. It's copyrighted now.

Anyway, speaking of digressing, don't forget that in order to keep your special ice cream labels attached to your gold mines, you not only have to know how to label frozen food properly, you need freezer labels that will continue to stick down to -60 degrees' worth of cold and hold out against moisture, frozen or not.

It can't be made of paper or plastic that crumbles or flakes away in the ice, or paper that turns to mush when it gets wet. That's not easy, which is why you can't depend on just any old sticker, even if it's called a freezer sticker. Stick with someone who knows what they're doing. Someone like, oh... us. All our sheet labels are optimized for cold, wet weather.

Ready to order? Just shoot us a quote request, and we'll let you know how much money we'll save you right away. And before you ask, yes, we can print on foil. But we hate to break it to you: gold foil makes really lousy freezer labels, so it's best to stick to plastic or paper.