INX International launches ‘low migration’ packaging inks
INX International has launched a new range of sheetfed process colour inks for folding food cartons, which it has specially formulated to reduce the risk of migration from packaging.
INX International has launched a new range of sheetfed process colour inks for folding food cartons, which it has specially formulated to reduce the risk of migration from packaging.
Launched at the Graph Expo trade show in Chicago from September 11, the new EcoTech LM (Low Migration) range has been formulated without mineral oils.
INX International said the new inks were also cobalt free and had a minimal residual odour. The firm said its new range complied with Nestlé's Guidance Note on Packaging Inks and US and EU food packaging guidelines for outer printing, as well as ISO 2846-1 standards.
Migration concerns rife
The Eco Tech LM range has been introduced at a time when migration issues – the transfer of substances such as mineral oils from packaging to food – were of significant concern to the food industry, the company said.
Sensitive chemical analysis might reveal substances where organoleptic (odour and taste) testing failed, INX International noted. ‘Low migration’ products included inks (such as EcoTech LM) and coatings specially formulated to minimize migration in use by using materials that do not migrate “under normal conditions of use”.
Chris Bonk, vice president and sheetfed technical director, INX International said that the company wished to eliminate mineral oils from its food packaging inks. “INX selects raw materials for low migration inks with low odour in mind,” he said.
“This represents a best practice solution to avoid any unwanted organoleptic impact in packaging, as well as avoiding problems in terms of any potential health hazard due to chemicals from the graphic process.” But Bonk said INX recommended to industry players that low-migration ink testing, “be performed under actual press conditions”.
“Not only must it [the ink] meet the single specific migration limit of individual components, but it must meet an overall migration limit on all components as well. And, it must also comply with a brand owner’s specifications."
Bonk added that brand owners, printers and converters should clarify and publish migration protocols, as Swiss food giant Nestlé had done.
Source: INX International Ink Co.
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