Low odor-Low Extractable Energy Curable ink for Food Packaging Applications

ink

Introduction
UV and EB technologies have already made significant inroads into non food applications due to the
numerous advantages which they provide over other technologies (e.g. high gloss, excellent resistance
properties, high printing speed, fast drying or cure times, no VOC, low system cost).
Penetration of these technologies into food packaging applications, however, is still limited to offset inks
and overprint varnishes (OPVs). Only limited penetration has been achieved into the fast growing
flexographic packaging ink segment. Constraints which are usually quoted as preventing the realization of
the full potential available in food packaging applications are odor and taste transfer, migration of existing
resins + additives, lack of a cost-effective migration testing protocol, acceptable adhesion to uncoated
polyolefins which is more difficult to achieve than with solvent based technologies, and limited availability
of UV equipment for wide web printing. To date resin suppliers and ink makers have mainly focused on
solving odor issues. The future tightening of the food contact regulations in Europe will force them to
consider impurity profiles, migration levels and manufacturing practices more thoroughly.