Non-food-grade ink typically contains petroleum distillates, heavy metals (such as lead and cadmium), carcinogens, harmful plasticizers and hazardous chemicals like benzophenones and isopropylthioxanthone. Image: Supplied.
Packaging is a vexing fact of life, with far too many products being wrapped in far too much plastic, paper and cardboard.
Waste management concerns aside, packaging used in food and pharmaceuticals carries another health risk that requires careful management, namely the ink used for printing logos, product information and usage directions on containers.
We don’t usually give much thought to the printing on food or medicine containers, but the consequences of ingesting toxic ink can be dire.
Short-term exposure can cause nausea and vomiting, while chronic exposure can have long-term health effects, including cancer, organ damage, and disruption of the endocrine system.
What makes ink unsafe?
Marco Engelbrecht, product management specialist at Altron Document Solutions, said it is both the ink ingredients and properties.
Non-food-grade ink typically contains petroleum distillates, heavy metals (such as lead and cadmium), carcinogens, harmful plasticizers and hazardous chemicals like benzophenones and isopropylthioxanthone.
Regarding properties, a key feature of food-safe ink is low migration. This means that the chemicals in the ink are engineered to stay in the packaging material and do not leach or migrate into the food.
Migration can occur if the ink is not properly cured or if it contains volatile substances that can evaporate and transfer into food.
Food-grade ink is typically water-soluble, and some have soya as their base ingredient, according to Engelbrecht.
He adds that the printing process involved also plays a role. Flexographic printing and lithography printing (flexo and litho for short) are the most widely used processes in South Africa and, thankfully, both are fully compatible with food-grade inks. Litho works well with vegetable-based (i.e., soya) inks, while flexo is ideal for water-based inks. Both processes can make use of UV-cured inks, which harden instantly under ultraviolet light, thus locking the ink components into place.
Is all food-related printing safe?
Given the considerable dangers of non-food-grade inks and how long regulations and food-safe certifications have been in place, one could be forgiven for assuming that all food-related printing – from fresh produce containers to cereal boxes, fast-food containers to pharmaceutical packaging – is being done with food-grade inks.
The large food producers in South Africa, companies like Pioneer Foods and Danone, all follow the AIB International guidelines in terms of food-safety standards, and using food-safe ink forms a large part of the requirements to achieve certification. They must be certified to do business with multinational FMCG giants such as Proctor and Gamble and AB InBev.
“However, the smaller food producers and their packaging suppliers don’t necessarily follow the same standards,” notes Engelbrecht. “And not for any malicious reasons – most often it is due to a lack of awareness and understanding,” Engelbrecht said.
Small and artisanal food producers require smaller quantities of packaging and therefore take their business to smaller print shops.
Because many of these traditional printers don’t have a packaging background, they don’t know the issues regarding food safety. The ink on labels can become gaseous, penetrate the packaging and contaminate the food inside.
The good news is that switching to food-safe inks is quick and easy to do.
In most cases nothing changes, except the ink or toner that is being used.
Engelbrecht said that food-safe printing in South Africa will grow organically as inkjet printers gain traction in the litho space and digital printing becomes more widely used in the packaging industry.
“All products being launched into the litho space are food-grade already and prices are coming down,” he says. “Digital printing is gaining popularity in food packaging because it makes short runs, personalised products and quick turnaround times possible. It can also be used on paper and plastic films and uses water-based inks. New developments in low-migration digital inks have made this process more suited for food packaging,” he added.
The fake product challenge
Fake products, notably in the pharmaceutical industry, is a global crisis in which packaging plays a role.
Non-food-grade ink introduces several layers of risk in this regard, from direct exposure to ink migration; to making counterfeit drugs harder to detect; exacerbating the toxic effects of already dangerous fake medications.
“The people who manufacture these products go for the cheapest packaging, produced on small UV printers,. Fake products in dangerous packaging cause untold harm across the world,” Engelbrecht said.
In many spheres of life, regulating the big players whose market share is greatly influenced by reputation is far easier than keeping thousands of small players in check.
Could the answer lie in the exclusive production of food-grade ink? Unfortunately not, given that food-grade inks are not UV-resistant and therefore unsuitable for outdoor, large-format printing such as billboards and vehicle signage.
“The criminal underworld is of course a whole different ball game, but when it comes to small operators running legitimate businesses, the job is to spread the food-safety message,” Engelbrecht added.
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