Mineral Oil Free Ink White Paper

The benefits of mineral oil free inks on food packaging

Introduction:

Food contamination with mineral oils is a generic problem imposing possible health hazards. Because mineral oils are widely used they can end up in foodstuffs by various routes. Food packaging has been identified as one source of this contamination: Mineral oils from recycled paper and carton as well as from printing inks used on the packaging can migrate into the food. This paper examines how the industry is now looking to mineral oil free alternatives to deliver safer food packaging.

Research findings
Safety issues over the migration of mineral oils into the food supply chain and the possible health hazards they could present to consumers are a cause of concern for the food industry. Research over the last few years has identified one source of this contamination to be the leaching of chemicals derived from mineral oil-based printing inks.The European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA) states: ‘For instance, mineral oil can migrate from recycled paper and board, and from mineral oil-based print on the non-food contact side of packaging.’