diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 0bca46308..6baa6e526 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ Depends:
 Imports:
     checkmate,
     digest,
-    formatters (>= 0.3.1),
     lifecycle,
     logger (>= 0.2.0),
     methods,
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 6e6105229..9ac8192cd 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ S3method(to_relational_data,TealDataset)
 S3method(to_relational_data,TealDatasetConnector)
 S3method(to_relational_data,data.frame)
 S3method(to_relational_data,list)
+export("col_labels<-")
 export("data_label<-")
 export(as_cdisc)
 export(callable_code)
@@ -68,6 +69,8 @@ export(cdisc_dataset_connector_file)
 export(cdisc_dataset_file)
 export(code_cdisc_dataset_connector)
 export(code_dataset_connector)
+export(col_labels)
+export(col_relabel)
 export(csv_cdisc_dataset_connector)
 export(csv_dataset_connector)
 export(data_connection)
@@ -116,7 +119,6 @@ export(to_relational_data)
 export(validate_metadata)
 import(shiny)
 importFrom(digest,digest)
-importFrom(formatters,var_labels)
 importFrom(logger,log_trace)
 importFrom(shinyjs,show)
 importFrom(stats,setNames)
diff --git a/R/CodeClass.R b/R/CodeClass.R
index 570b8086d..1db297191 100644
--- a/R/CodeClass.R
+++ b/R/CodeClass.R
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ CodeClass <- R6::R6Class( # nolint
     #' @description
     #' Set code in form of character
     #' @param code (`character`) vector of code text to be set
-    #' @param `dataname` optional, (`character`) vector of `datanames` to assign code to. If empty then the code
+    #' @param dataname optional, (`character`) vector of `datanames` to assign code to. If empty then the code
     #' is considered to be "global"
     #' @param deps optional, (`character`) vector of `datanames` that given code depends on
     #'
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ CodeClass <- R6::R6Class( # nolint
     },
     #' @description
     #' Get the code for a given data names
-    #' @param `dataname` optional, (`character`) vector of `datanames` for which the code is extracted.
+    #' @param dataname optional, (`character`) vector of `datanames` for which the code is extracted.
     #' If `NULL` then get the code for all data names
     #' @param deparse optional, (`logical`) whether to return the deparsed form of a call
     #' @return `character` or `list` of calls
diff --git a/R/TealDataset.R b/R/TealDataset.R
index 285fc5885..0d32b2ec0 100644
--- a/R/TealDataset.R
+++ b/R/TealDataset.R
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ TealDataset <- R6::R6Class( # nolint
     #' Derive the column labels
     #' @return `character` vector.
     get_column_labels = function() {
-      formatters::var_labels(private$.raw_data, fill = FALSE)
+      col_labels(private$.raw_data, fill = FALSE)
     },
     #' @description
     #' Get the number of columns of the data
diff --git a/R/formatters_var_labels.R b/R/formatters_var_labels.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c3075c107
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/formatters_var_labels.R
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+#' Get Label Attributes of Variables in a \code{data.frame}
+#'
+#' Variable labels can be stored as a \code{label} attribute for each variable.
+#' This functions returns a named character vector with the variable labels
+#' (empty sting if not specified)
+#'
+#' @param x a \code{data.frame} object
+#' @param fill boolean in case the \code{label} attribute does not exist if
+#'   \code{TRUE} the variable names is returned, otherwise \code{NA}
+#'
+#' @source This function was taken 1-1 from
+#' \href{https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/formatters/index.html}{formatters} package, to reduce the complexity of
+#' the dependency tree.
+#'
+#' @seealso [col_relabel()] [`col_labels<-`]
+#'
+#' @return a named character vector with the variable labels, the names
+#'   correspond to the variable names
+#'
+#' @export
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' x <- iris
+#' col_labels(x)
+#' col_labels(x) <- paste("label for", names(iris))
+#' col_labels(x)
+col_labels <- function(x, fill = FALSE) {
+  stopifnot(is.data.frame(x))
+  if (NCOL(x) == 0) {
+    return(character())
+  }
+
+  y <- Map(function(col, colname) {
+    label <- attr(col, "label")
+
+    if (is.null(label)) {
+      if (fill) {
+        colname
+      } else {
+        NA_character_
+      }
+    } else {
+      if (!is.character(label) && !(length(label) == 1)) {
+        stop("label for variable ", colname, "is not a character string")
+      }
+      as.vector(label)
+    }
+  }, x, colnames(x))
+
+  labels <- unlist(y, recursive = FALSE, use.names = TRUE)
+
+  if (!is.character(labels)) {
+    stop("label extraction failed")
+  }
+
+  labels
+}
+
+#' Set Label Attributes of All Variables in a \code{data.frame}
+#'
+#' Variable labels can be stored as a \code{label} attribute for each variable.
+#' This functions sets all non-missing (non-NA) variable labels in a \code{data.frame}
+#'
+#' @inheritParams col_labels
+#' @param value new variable labels, \code{NA} removes the variable label
+#'
+#' @source This function was taken 1-1 from
+#' \href{https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/formatters/index.html}{formatters} package, to reduce the complexity of
+#' the dependency tree.
+#'
+#' @seealso [col_labels()] [col_relabel()]
+#'
+#' @return modifies the variable labels of \code{x}
+#'
+#' @export
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' x <- iris
+#' col_labels(x)
+#' col_labels(x) <- paste("label for", names(iris))
+#' col_labels(x)
+#'
+#' if (interactive()) {
+#'   View(x) # in RStudio data viewer labels are displayed
+#' }
+`col_labels<-` <- function(x, value) {
+  stopifnot(
+    is.data.frame(x),
+    is.character(value),
+    ncol(x) == length(value)
+  )
+
+  theseq <- if (!is.null(names(value))) names(value) else seq_along(x)
+  # across columns of x
+  for (j in theseq) {
+    attr(x[[j]], "label") <- if (!is.na(value[j])) {
+      value[j]
+    } else {
+      NULL
+    }
+  }
+
+  x
+}
+
+#' Copy and Change Variable Labels of a \code{data.frame}
+#'
+#' Relabel a subset of the variables
+#'
+#' @inheritParams col_labels<-
+#' @param ... name-value pairs, where name corresponds to a variable name in
+#'   \code{x} and the value to the new variable label
+#'
+#' @return a copy of \code{x} with changed labels according to \code{...}
+#'
+#' @source This function was taken 1-1 from
+#' \href{https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/formatters/index.html}{formatters} package, to reduce the complexity of
+#' the dependency tree.
+#'
+#' @seealso [col_labels()] [`col_labels<-`]
+#'
+#' @export
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' x <- col_relabel(iris, Sepal.Length = "Sepal Length of iris flower")
+#' col_labels(x)
+#'
+col_relabel <- function(x, ...) {
+  stopifnot(is.data.frame(x))
+  if (missing(...)) {
+    return(x)
+  }
+  dots <- list(...)
+  varnames <- names(dots)
+  stopifnot(!is.null(varnames))
+
+  map_varnames <- match(varnames, colnames(x))
+
+  if (any(is.na(map_varnames))) {
+    stop("variables: ", paste(varnames[is.na(map_varnames)], collapse = ", "), " not found")
+  }
+
+  if (any(vapply(dots, Negate(is.character), logical(1)))) {
+    stop("all variable labels must be of type character")
+  }
+
+  for (i in seq_along(map_varnames)) {
+    attr(x[[map_varnames[[i]]]], "label") <- dots[[i]]
+  }
+
+  x
+}
diff --git a/R/teal.data.R b/R/teal.data.R
index 73f08c960..83037785d 100644
--- a/R/teal.data.R
+++ b/R/teal.data.R
@@ -15,5 +15,4 @@
 #' @importFrom stats setNames
 #' @importFrom shinyjs show
 #' @importFrom logger log_trace
-#' @importFrom formatters var_labels
 NULL
diff --git a/_pkgdown.yml b/_pkgdown.yml
index 102c6da73..1557baf6d 100644
--- a/_pkgdown.yml
+++ b/_pkgdown.yml
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ reference:
   - title: Helpers
     desc: Other useful functions for users and developers.
     contents:
+      - col_labels
+      - col_labels<-
+      - col_relabel
       - data_label
       - data_label<-
       - example_cdisc_data
diff --git a/inst/WORDLIST b/inst/WORDLIST
index bb8a2852e..603e469f0 100644
--- a/inst/WORDLIST
+++ b/inst/WORDLIST
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@ iteratively
 pre
 repo
 reproducibility
+formatters
diff --git a/man/CodeClass.Rd b/man/CodeClass.Rd
index 4918fdcba..068fb7e24 100644
--- a/man/CodeClass.Rd
+++ b/man/CodeClass.Rd
@@ -138,10 +138,10 @@ Set code in form of character
 \describe{
 \item{\code{code}}{(\code{character}) vector of code text to be set}
 
-\item{\code{deps}}{optional, (\code{character}) vector of \code{datanames} that given code depends on}
-
-\item{\code{`dataname`}}{optional, (\code{character}) vector of \code{datanames} to assign code to. If empty then the code
+\item{\code{dataname}}{optional, (\code{character}) vector of \code{datanames} to assign code to. If empty then the code
 is considered to be "global"}
+
+\item{\code{deps}}{optional, (\code{character}) vector of \code{datanames} that given code depends on}
 }
 \if{html}{\out{</div>}}
 }
@@ -161,10 +161,10 @@ Get the code for a given data names
 \subsection{Arguments}{
 \if{html}{\out{<div class="arguments">}}
 \describe{
-\item{\code{deparse}}{optional, (\code{logical}) whether to return the deparsed form of a call}
-
-\item{\code{`dataname`}}{optional, (\code{character}) vector of \code{datanames} for which the code is extracted.
+\item{\code{dataname}}{optional, (\code{character}) vector of \code{datanames} for which the code is extracted.
 If \code{NULL} then get the code for all data names}
+
+\item{\code{deparse}}{optional, (\code{logical}) whether to return the deparsed form of a call}
 }
 \if{html}{\out{</div>}}
 }
diff --git a/man/col_labels-set.Rd b/man/col_labels-set.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5781b0659
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/col_labels-set.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/formatters_var_labels.R
+\name{col_labels<-}
+\alias{col_labels<-}
+\title{Set Label Attributes of All Variables in a \code{data.frame}}
+\source{
+This function was taken 1-1 from
+\href{https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/formatters/index.html}{formatters} package, to reduce the complexity of
+the dependency tree.
+}
+\usage{
+col_labels(x) <- value
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{a \code{data.frame} object}
+
+\item{value}{new variable labels, \code{NA} removes the variable label}
+}
+\value{
+modifies the variable labels of \code{x}
+}
+\description{
+Variable labels can be stored as a \code{label} attribute for each variable.
+This functions sets all non-missing (non-NA) variable labels in a \code{data.frame}
+}
+\examples{
+x <- iris
+col_labels(x)
+col_labels(x) <- paste("label for", names(iris))
+col_labels(x)
+
+if (interactive()) {
+  View(x) # in RStudio data viewer labels are displayed
+}
+}
+\seealso{
+\code{\link[=col_labels]{col_labels()}} \code{\link[=col_relabel]{col_relabel()}}
+}
diff --git a/man/col_labels.Rd b/man/col_labels.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6561ef04a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/col_labels.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/formatters_var_labels.R
+\name{col_labels}
+\alias{col_labels}
+\title{Get Label Attributes of Variables in a \code{data.frame}}
+\source{
+This function was taken 1-1 from
+\href{https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/formatters/index.html}{formatters} package, to reduce the complexity of
+the dependency tree.
+}
+\usage{
+col_labels(x, fill = FALSE)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{a \code{data.frame} object}
+
+\item{fill}{boolean in case the \code{label} attribute does not exist if
+\code{TRUE} the variable names is returned, otherwise \code{NA}}
+}
+\value{
+a named character vector with the variable labels, the names
+correspond to the variable names
+}
+\description{
+Variable labels can be stored as a \code{label} attribute for each variable.
+This functions returns a named character vector with the variable labels
+(empty sting if not specified)
+}
+\examples{
+x <- iris
+col_labels(x)
+col_labels(x) <- paste("label for", names(iris))
+col_labels(x)
+}
+\seealso{
+\code{\link[=col_relabel]{col_relabel()}} \code{\link{col_labels<-}}
+}
diff --git a/man/col_relabel.Rd b/man/col_relabel.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..df1497e02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/col_relabel.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/formatters_var_labels.R
+\name{col_relabel}
+\alias{col_relabel}
+\title{Copy and Change Variable Labels of a \code{data.frame}}
+\source{
+This function was taken 1-1 from
+\href{https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/formatters/index.html}{formatters} package, to reduce the complexity of
+the dependency tree.
+}
+\usage{
+col_relabel(x, ...)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{a \code{data.frame} object}
+
+\item{...}{name-value pairs, where name corresponds to a variable name in
+\code{x} and the value to the new variable label}
+}
+\value{
+a copy of \code{x} with changed labels according to \code{...}
+}
+\description{
+Relabel a subset of the variables
+}
+\examples{
+x <- col_relabel(iris, Sepal.Length = "Sepal Length of iris flower")
+col_labels(x)
+
+}
+\seealso{
+\code{\link[=col_labels]{col_labels()}} \code{\link{col_labels<-}}
+}
diff --git a/staged_dependencies.yaml b/staged_dependencies.yaml
index aa1758cea..4cdc94883 100644
--- a/staged_dependencies.yaml
+++ b/staged_dependencies.yaml
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@ upstream_repos:
   insightsengineering/teal.logger:
     repo: insightsengineering/teal.logger
     host: https://github.com
-  insightsengineering/formatters:
-    repo: insightsengineering/formatters
-    host: https://github.com
 downstream_repos:
   insightsengineering/teal.slice:
     repo: insightsengineering/teal.slice
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-CDISCTealDataset.R b/tests/testthat/test-CDISCTealDataset.R
index 715b61dda..96c01c466 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-CDISCTealDataset.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-CDISCTealDataset.R
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ## CDISCTealDataset ====
 testthat::test_that("CDISCTealDataset basics", {
   x <- data.frame(x = c(1, 2), y = c("a", "b"), stringsAsFactors = TRUE)
-  formatters::var_labels(x) <- c("X", "Y")
+  col_labels(x) <- c("X", "Y")
 
   testthat::expect_error(
     teal.data:::CDISCTealDataset$new(dataname = "abc", x = x)
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-TealDataset.R b/tests/testthat/test-TealDataset.R
index e384e5a10..77272d917 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-TealDataset.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-TealDataset.R
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ## TealDataset =====
 testthat::test_that("TealDataset basics", {
   x <- data.frame(x = c(1, 2), y = c("a", "b"), stringsAsFactors = TRUE)
-  formatters::var_labels(x) <- c("X", "Y")
+  col_labels(x) <- c("X", "Y")
 
   testthat::expect_silent({
     test_ds <- TealDataset$new(
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-TealDatasetConnector.R b/tests/testthat/test-TealDatasetConnector.R
index a79398ce5..c26744e02 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-TealDatasetConnector.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-TealDatasetConnector.R
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ testthat::test_that("csv_dataset_connector attritubes", {
     RACE = c("sth1|sth2", "sth", "sth"),
     stringsAsFactors = FALSE
   )
-  formatters::var_labels(ADSL_ns) <- letters[1:4] # nolint
+  col_labels(ADSL_ns) <- letters[1:4] # nolint
   temp_file_csv <- tempfile(fileext = ".csv")
   write.table(ADSL_ns, file = temp_file_csv, row.names = FALSE, sep = ",")
 
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ testthat::test_that("csv_dataset_connector attritubes", {
   testthat::expect_null(attributes(data[[1]])$label)
 
   # we should use mutate_dataset
-  data <- (x %>% mutate_dataset("formatters::var_labels(ADSL) <- letters[1:4]"))$get_raw_data()
+  data <- (x %>% mutate_dataset("col_labels(ADSL) <- letters[1:4]"))$get_raw_data()
   testthat::expect_identical(attributes(data[[1]])$label, "a")
 })
 
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ testthat::test_that("fun_cdisc_dataset_connector", {
     )
     x$w <- as.numeric(rnorm(40, 0, 1))
     x$ww <- as.numeric(rnorm(40, 0, 1))
-    formatters::var_labels(x) <- c("STUDYID", "USUBJID", "z", "zz", "NAs", "w", "ww")
+    col_labels(x) <- c("STUDYID", "USUBJID", "z", "zz", "NAs", "w", "ww")
     x
   }
 
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ testthat::test_that("fun_cdisc_dataset_connector", {
     )
     x$w <- as.numeric(rnorm(40, 0, 1))
     x$ww <- as.numeric(rnorm(40, 0, 1))
-    formatters::var_labels(x) <- c("STUDYID", "USUBJID", "z", "zz", "NAs", "w", "ww")
+    col_labels(x) <- c("STUDYID", "USUBJID", "z", "zz", "NAs", "w", "ww")
     x
   }