Everything need to know about BS8433 microwavable personal warmers label

For some of specific reasons the EU market is still using the BS8433:2004 standard for microwavable personal warmers. This British Standard has a history of 21 years and although some of its contents are out of date, the accompanying EN71-1 and EN71-3 standards as well as the 93/42/EEC standard are constantly being updated.

In addition to the European Union, markets such as Australia and New Zealand also use the BS8433:2004 standard for microwavable personal warmers. However, the labeling content of many MPW simplifies many of the mandatory warnings and does not fully serve the purpose of alerting consumers. This is actually very dangerous.

3.5 Primary cover - envelope that retains the heatable medium(Heating packs sewn from cotton fabric, No print, no pattern)

3.6 Secondary cover - Additional covering that maybe removable but part of the product in normal use (plush toy, etc)

There are some companies that design microwavable heating packs that do not follow this standard, and in order to save money they simply use primary cover as secondary cover, the cover fabric is printed. This cover is not removable

5.2.3 MPWS having pervious primary covers

A leakage and tension test in accordance with BS EN71-1:2001(EN71-1:2014+A1:2018), 8.15 and 8.4.2.2 respectively shall be conducted. Many companies do not test their cover to EN71-1, so it's a good idea to reflect this point in the warning of the label content.

Most of the importer’s label will be marked out on the microwave oven power and the corresponding heating time of the table, but many companies omit the name of the table, which in fact will cause misleading to the consumer. With the name Maximum recommended heating time and wattage will make everything clear. In practice, heating times are not labeled in minutes but in seconds. This is more concise.

l  Inspect at regular intervals. Discard if found worn or damaged.

l  Clean only in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

With regard to cleaning precautions, we would advise our customers to use the relevant symbols in lieu of language

l  Warning – This product can cause burns, avoid prolonged direct contact with the skin

l  Taking care when removing from the microwave oven

l  Do not ingest contents

l  Do not over heat

l  For microwave use only

We usually recommend that designers add an additional and most important warning, please do not repeat , continous heating in short time!

When performing the heating test on the BS8433, one of the test elements was to heat the pack for 5 consecutive rounds at the maximum power for the longest heating time, with a 30 second pause in between each round. The problem encountered in the actual test was that the cotton packet burned and smoked. The circumstances that lead to the failure of this test are usually that the recommended heating time is too long (the heating time is completely different for different types and volumes of fillers)

l  Regarding safety advice in the event of over heating, we could use this kind of suggestion: Contact emergency medical service if burned

l  When disposing of this cotton pack, please take to your local waste collection facility for suitable disposal

Many importers selling microwavable personal warmers to pharmacies and It is reasonable use the Medical Device Regulation(EU)2017/745(MDR) Requirements for language and labels. Once we look at this set of rules in detail we realize that this set of requirements is particularly well suited to the importer's current situation, where different collections of MPW are designed each year, with different details of MRW for each collections

l  Symbol for LOT, Batch code

l  Quantity: xxxxxPCS

l  Symbol for date of manufacture

l  Symbol for manufacturer

l  Symbol for Attention, See instructions for use

l  Product name:

l  Model: xxxxx

l  Specifications: xxxxxxxx(such as 100 gram Silicone particles)

l  Can print CE mark if cover also passes the EN71 test

l  Made in China / PRC

l  Importer’s contact details

These key points above constitute almost all the key elements of MPW

Regarding Label language we would like to follow MDR’s 6.3 Translation procedures and control:

The labeling must use local official language to avoid accidents caused by inadequate translation.

The symbol for EC representative is not required because MPW is not medical device.

There is really no mandatory requirement as to the form in which these elements should be arranged. Certain content can be bolded, and important content can be highlighted in bright colors