As a manufacturer of plastic bags we often have conversations with customers about the suffocation warnings they are required to print on their bags. 

Your customers are your number one priority, as is their safety. It’s extremely important that you are aware of what your state regulations are regarding suffocation warnings.

We consider ourselves experts in manufacturing film and plastic bags, but we don't claim to be experts when it comes to knowing each state’s regulations. While we cannot provide them for you, we can certainly help you make the right printing decisions for your product.

Suffocation Warning Requirements

There are no federal regulations regarding the inclusion of suffocation warnings on plastic bags, but some states, and a few municipalities, have their own regulations.

Those regulations differ depending on thickness of bag, dimensions and the intended use of the bag. There are also regulations around how many times the print is required on the bag and where on the bag the print must be located.

You can find out what your state regulations around suffocation warnings are here.

Printing Suffocation Warnings

Once you are aware of your regulations, you have a few decisions to make as to how you will be printing the label on your bag.

At North Coast Plastics, we print your suffocation warning on your plastic bag during the manufacturing process.We use a flexographic printing process to transfer the warning from a print plate to the plastic film.

You have two print options when it comes to applying the image to your plastic bag: random repeat printing or registered printing.

            Registered Print Bag                      Random Repeat Bag 

Random repeat printing means that there will always be at least one full image on each bag and additional impressions of the same image will be printed but will not include the entire print.

Registered printing means that your image will be printed in the same location on each bag one time.

Summing it Up

We always suggest that our customers check with their own legal counsel before speaking to a manufacturer. It's always best to double check when it comes to something as serious as a suffocation warning.

If you have any other questions about suffocation warning images or printing on plastic bags, feel free to reach out to us and we would be happy to help.