Producing food packaging as well as printing on food contact materials inevitably involves exposure to specific consumer safety concerns.

These are triggered from various sides, such as from regulatory authorities all over the globe, which aim to protect consumers from potential risks originating from the food packaging – from brand owners, who strive to protect their precious brand from all negative influences also resulting from packaging material alerts – and last but not least from NGO’s representing consumer concerns and not to forget, from critical consumers themselves.

Located in the center of this packaging chain, the printer / converter has to deal with a multitude of aspects and parameters, whilst converting the various material streams (e.g. substrates, inks, adhesives) into the ready-made printed packaging, waiting to be filled with food or other content. It is due to this multitude of parameters, all of which having a pivotal influence on the compliance status / product safety profile of the final food packaging, that expert knowledge as well as open and transparent information are key in order to produce a high quality, fully compliant and fit for its purpose printed food packaging.

This guidance is written from the ink manufacturer’s perspective and shall support converters in their challenging task of producing printed food packaging. It is offering the latest available information on a wide range of subjects, starting with a survey on legal requirements around the globe, giving bundled knowledge on the safety evaluation for migrants and ending with consumer risk reduction measures, which should be taken both from the ink supplier as well as from the converter.

Dr. J.-P. Langhammer
Head of Global Product Safety + Responsibility

For further information on food packaging regulation processes, please also check out our articles on the topics “Brand Owner Management“ and “Converter: Responsibilities within the Supply Chain“.