Should pay attention to printing ink safety

International Food Packaging Association Packaging Expert Consultant Yang Weimin

Food packaging is the protector of food, and the packaging industry is an important part of the food industry. With more attention to food safety and higher requirements, people's attention to the safety of food packaging is also rising, and in addition to the packaging material itself, the printing ink on the packaging can not be ignored.

Food packaging is usually based on compound in-printing inks. Some confectionery papers use table printing inks. Retorting and packaging use high-temperature cooking inks. In general, vacuum packaging uses polyester inks. Dairy products are packaged with water-resistant, acid-resistant and heat-resistant inks. The classification is very fine. At present, gravure printing inks used in the country contain a large amount of organic solvents, among which solvents such as **, ethyl acetate and butanone have low boiling point, high volatility, aromatic hydrocarbons, and are toxic and flammable. They are the main sources of pollution in the environment. The packaging industry is a large manufacturer of printing inks, and the quality of printing inks will affect food safety. Therefore, the universal application of environmentally friendly printing inks in food packaging is a matter of no delay. At present, China's packaging companies using benzene-free inks account for only 20% of the entire industry, while water-based benzene-free inks are even less.

Why are packaging companies not actively using benzene-free ink?

First of all, the increasingly fierce competition in the packaging industry has brought the industry into the era of meager profits, enterprises are very sensitive to price costs, and the price of benzene-free inks is relatively high; second, there is no explicit national standard that prohibits the use of benzene-containing inks; again, for non-professionals It is difficult for a person to distinguish whether it is benzene-free ink, so that packaging companies have a chance. Therefore, only ink manufacturers, printing and packaging manufacturing, packaging users, and relevant departments to strengthen supervision and rational consumption, the joint efforts of the entire society in order to minimize the hidden dangers of food packaging.

Repeated printing problems with multiple packaging must also be taken into account. In recent years, the rise of the holiday economy has given birth to more hotbeds for excessive packaging. Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival and other important festivals will see the packaged and elaborate food gift box packaging in the supermarket. Behind the sophisticated packaging, it ignores the potential safety hazards of multiple packaging. From the outer package to the inner package, repeated printing is serious. To curb excessive packaging, we must vigorously promote simple packaging and improve relevant laws and regulations. The cost of overpacking is used to improve the barrier properties of the inner layer of the food packaging and avoid repeated printing.

Discussions about the possible intrusion of inks used in packaging materials into foods have caused great concern in many European countries. According to media reports, a food safety laboratory in Zurich found that, in some food packaging bags, the use of printing inks based on mineral oil has exceeded the standard by more than 10 times. The European Union of Paper Packaging Industry and the European Union of Paper and Carton Packaging stated that through hard work, the current use of printing inks based on mineral oil has been reduced by nearly 90% in food packaging. In the future in Europe, printing inks based on mineral oil will fade out of the food printing and packaging industry. This is also the development trend of global food packaging printing inks.