Brand owners, such as retailers and food producers, print buyers, law makers and consumer associations are among the driving forces behind a new project group set up by PrintCity to address best practices for food packaging printing. Launched at IPEX it is the latest initiative by the group that has shown a considerably increased interest in the packaging market recently.
Luc van Gestel of Print City member M-real said that representatives from manufacturers of printing presses, processing equipment, inks, coatings and substrates have joined the cross-industry project that has pulled together essential information to assist in the production of offset printed food packaging. Project members include M-real, Eltosch, Bobst, Sun Chemical, Welburger, Kurz and MAN Roland.
The project, which began three months ago, has already produced a short version of a “Best Practice Guide for Food Packaging Printing”. “It is a market that requires high technical expertise and knowledge of for example organoleptic and migration issues as well as the legal situation in the different countries,” said Luc van Gestel. The legal requirement for food packaging is continuously evolving, yet the food industry still does not have clear guidance in some areas which leads to uncertainty and misrepresentation, for example the migration for folding cartons, says PrintCity.
The guide will be available in pdf format in two versions – one to members of the participating group and the shorter version to all Print City members. “We are certainly also going to publish this on a larger scale for converters,” he said. “And we are also considering putting on a seminar when we have the completed guide.”
During Ipex the group also ran a seminar on printed electronics developments and RFID to two well attended audiences.
| PrintCity |
| PrintCity |
