Ink companies are introducing new UV inks that reduce risks of photoinitiator migration and can thus be considered suitable for food packaging applications.
Toyo Ink and Flint are showing UV flexo inks that meet the Swiss Ordinance regulations at Labelexpo while Sun Chemical has announced an ink for sheetfed litho carton printing. The SunCure Advance Eco UV ink has been undergoing field trials with users reporting low misting, good colour stability and ability to cope with print speeds to at least 20,000sph.
The ink comprises 25-30% bio renewable content and Sun Chemical says that there is a version of the ink meets the requirements of the Nestlé requirements for both mercury vapour UV and LED UV curing, and thus for food packaging. There is no announcement about availability of the ink in Europe.
Flint Ink’s Flexocure Leap on the other hand is available in Europe before the rest of the world. It is an UV cured ink for narrow web flexo printing and meets requirements of the various food packaging compliance initiatives.
This is thanks to development of a new resin system that reduces the risk from migration of photointiators into the substrate being printed. This it says is a first for flexo printing, meeting current and anticipated future legislative shifts.
Senior director narrow web R&D & technology at Flint Marc Heylen says: “This is truly a market breakthrough in the safe and compliant printing of materials designed for the packaging of food and sensitive goods. As regulatory requirements continue to evolve, impacting not only ink and coating formulations but also the final printed package, the industry must adopt safer, future ready solutions.”
Toyo Ink Europe is working to the sane goal with its introduction of a flexo ink for narrow web applications, including food packaging. This is Steraflex GIO which meets the requirements of Eupia, Swiss Ordinance and the latest German Ink Ordinance.
This is achieved through a new binder system which is effective on low surface tension materials including Bopp. The company has managed to produce the ink without photo initiator 379, identified as problematic in existing and future regulations.
