Usage of food-safe inks while packaging

Wednesday, 01 June, 2016, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Neelakamal Mohapatra
Printing ink is an integral part of packaging products. When we consider food packaging, then the importance
of “food safety” is applicable to the total packaging including printing ink. Long before the public became
aware, a number of scientific publications had already revealed the migration potential of substances present
in prints. The first big migration scandal in 2005, findings of isopropyl thioxanthone (ITX, a low molecular
photoinitiator used in UV inks) in baby milk and other liquid foodstuffs were reported, all over Europe, in the
year 2005 and caused several product recalls. This food scandal alerted the packaging chain about the
migration potential of substances from printing inks. Due to the complexities involved in designing the
composition of the printing inks, the risk of migration of the ink component to the food needs to be
considered starting from the selection of the raw materials. Siegwerk as a member of EuPIA (European
Printing Ink Manufacturing Association) has adapted processes and controls to deliver inks for food packaging
with lower migration potential.

Specially manufactured inks to suit different requirements

Most of the regulations work with similar principles. Packaging materials and articles shall be manufactured in
compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) so that, under normal or foreseeable conditions of use,
they do not transfer their constituents to food in quantities which could endanger human health; or bring
about an unacceptable change in the composition of the food; or bring about a deterioration in the
organoleptic characteristics. The company’s efforts to supply the safest inks in the world go far beyond legal
requirements. Basically the company is committed to full compliance with the EuPIA (European Printing Ink
Association) guidelines. Beyond that, food packaging inks by the company are formulated and manufactured
taking into consideration many individual and varying parameters relating to substrate, application and end-
use. Not only are toxic substances excluded based on explicit exclusion criteria but moreover all food
packaging inks are designed to minimise the potential for the transfer of ink components of concern into food,
whilst meeting the high end-use requirements.

Food grade inks or safe inks

The company formulates ink to ensure safety of workers in ink manufacturing, converters and print shop
workers, as well as consumers. Moreover specific care is taken about the brand owner requirements and
safety of branded products. Our ink formulators need to know not only composition and purity of raw
materials, chemical interactions with other materials, application requirements; but also conversion
processes, ink production, printing, lamination, packaging, consumer usage, waste cycle to select the right
solution for a certain application. Toxicological data have heavily influenced the raw material selection and
development of new raw materials in the last few decades. Ink formulators working hand in hand with HSE
specialist to ensure PSR (Product Safety and Regulation) compliance.

Cross contamination of non-compliant inks can be minimised by keeping same ink type per job, dedicated
machine room, and or printing press, excellent in-house; ink room management processes, excellent job
change procedures, printed reel and transport / storage conditions. Converters need full transparency on
possible migrants for management of food safety. The company supports the converters in providing qualified
information on migrants through SoC (statement of compositions). In Indian market, “Toluene Free (TF)” or
“Non-Toluene Non-Ketone (NTNK)” inks are considered to be safe. However, this is not always true. Even
other substances which are part of the supplied raw material such as process aids and additives may contain
potential migrants and end up as part of the ink system which can migrate into the food and in turn makes it
unacceptable for human consumption.

Consultancy services on inks and regulations to be safe

In the company, we don’t just sell inks, we sell “Ink Solutions.” This implies that our sales and technical team
cooperates with our customers to understand their packaging and application requirements including product
safety demands. In addition, the company offers a web-based product safety portal accessible 24/7 for
structured information, documents including material safety datasheet (MSDS), updated brochures and
guides for practical usage. We answer customers‘ questions & evaluate challenging issues by offering
suggestions and support on all relevant legislations and regions.

Support in food packaging development

In Siegwerk, we rely on three important steps to support safe and compliance packaging. The primary step is
to utilise a centrally coordinated global raw material approval process, to be followed by globally approved
“Formulation Guidelines,” ensuring non-use of hazardous and unwanted substances and raw materials. In
addition, we provide product safety guidance on how to use inks, share statement of compositions and
support risk evaluation and migration potential on individual packaging. Most importantly, we proactively
participate in association work on product safety to set standards, offer trainings, workshops, Q&A guides,
brochures, consulting and comprehensive online information.

Regulations of FSSAI in India for food packaging

In India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is responsible for protecting and
promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety. FSSAI has been established
under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Food Packaging
The ‘Food Safety and Standards Act’ (FSSA, No. 34 of 2006) introduces regulation on food contaminants, in
particular including contaminants from packaging. Specific provisions on packaging are detailed out in the
‘Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011. Section 2.1.1 (2) regulates plastics
in contact with food, stating generally that “containers made of plastic materials should conform to the
following Indian Standard Specification (IS)” (followed by a list of 10 Indian Standards on 10 different plastic
types previously issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards). These standards include overall migration limits
(identical to those in the EU) and/or positive lists of authorised substances for the 10 plastic types (but not
for printed layers), with maximum concentration limits.

Ink
The voluntary Indian Standard IS 15495:2004 ‘Printing ink for food packaging – Code of practice’ prescribes
guidelines for printing inks for use on food packages. The standard differentiates among four categories of
printing inks:

The exclusion list in Annex A comprises pigments and compounds based on antimony, arsenic, cadmium,
chromium (IV), lead, mercury and selenium as well as several dye colorants, solvents, plasticisers and other
compounds (e.g. dioxines, nitrosamines and others).

It is less demanding than the JPIMA and EuPIA exclusion lists – in particular, toxic phthalate ester plasticisers
usable in solvent-based inks are not banned, the aromatic hydrocarbon-based solvent “Toluene” is not
restricted.

6. Controlling migration to food product

Migrants are substances which, due to their chemical characteristics and molecular size, transfer from a
printed layer into the packed food. Polymeric materials are generally large molecules without migration
potential, thus they are usually not regarded as migrants. In addition, if ever ingested, polymeric substances
with molecular weights above 1000 Daltons are not absorbed by the gastro-intestinal tract and thus are not
considered by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to present a toxicological risk. Inorganic materials
(such as white titanium dioxide pigment, calcium carbonate fillers, silica matting agents) are crystalline
particles and therefore not migrants.

Types of migration
1) Set-off migration
Migrants can migrate from one layer to another, such as a surface printed layer to the non-printed food-
contact surface which is later on brought into contact with food. If these are in direct or close contact like in a
reel or a stack after printing, set-off migration can occur due to the pressure existing in the reel or stack.
2) Diffusion migration
Small and mobile molecules can easily penetrate into and diffuse across packaging material layers. This can
occur even if the printed material has not yet been converted into a food package and filled with food, or later
on when the printed package is filled with food and the food starts to ‘extract’ the migrants from the
packaging material.
3) Gas-phase migration
Migrants can also migrate from a cardboard (the ‘releasing reservoir’) via the gas phase within the pack, to
end up in food which acts as ‘recipient reservoir’ (gas phase migration). This can, for example, occur with
migrants such as mineral oils or some UV photoinitiators that might not be generally known as being volatile
such as organic solvents.

When doing migration testing, it is critical to consider the complete packaging value chain. The right choice of
ink and related materials such as adhesives, barrier properties of substrates. Design of packaging, conversion
of the substrates, packaging and storage conditions must be integral for controlling migration.

It is critical to be aware of migration principles and related regulations. The more we know and apply food
safety concepts towards packaging, the better we can provide our consumers a “peace of mind.” We, at
Siegwerk, are always ready for support and are prepared to be challenged on our part of responsibility along
the packaging chain.
(The author is head,(flexible packaging), technology development, Siegwerk India Pvt. Ltd)

This article is originally written by me in FnB news.com: http://www.fnbnews.com/Food-Safety/usage-of-

foodsafe-inks-while-packaging-39027