Pamex 2024: Hubergroup highlights DFC inks

Conventional sheetfed offset inks for printing on food, beverage or tobacco packaging were developed for printing on the side, facing away from the food. These inks are not intended for printing on the inside of food packaging, where direct contact with the food cannot be ruled out. There are hardly any inks for such applications with direct food contact.

Prasanta Sarkar of Hubergroup said Hubergroup’s new sheetfed offset series MGA Contact, however, is suitable for direct food contact applications. “No functional barriers are required. The ink series only needs to be coated with a water-based coating that is also suitable for direct food contact. It is, therefore, suitable for safe printing on the inside of paper and board for food packaging,” he added.

MGA Contact inks are low migration and low odour type which are based on a completely non-oxidative drying system. These inks dry purely by absorption process on paper and board substrates. During printing in-line, water-based coating is required to protect the wet ink film.

These DFC inks are manufactured at a dedicated plant in Germany. Apart from four process-colour inks, Huber offers two additional colours; orange and violet for extended colour gamut (ECG).

Sarkar added, “This innovation is a German-based product. We are here at Pamex 2024 to create awareness about the DFC inks, we want the printers and the industry to know that we have come up with a safe and sustainable solution for food packaging.”

In food-safe package printing by offset, apart from the printing inks, there are other consumables used. All the other consumables like fount concentrate, spray powder, wash, water-based coating and glue should be of the same quality and suitable for food safety printing.

This eases the process of printing on both sides of the packaging resulting in maximum utilisation of the packaging space. 

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