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Packaging materials for foodstuffs have to fulfil certain legal requirements with
regard to the possible transfer of their constituents into food. For instance, the basic
demand is expressed by Article 2 of the European Directive 89/109/EEC ("On the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to materials and articles
intended to come into contact with foodstuffs"):
Materials and articles must be manufactured in compliance with good manufacturing
practice so that, under their normal or foreseeable conditions of use, they do not transfer
their constituents to foodstuffs in quantities which could:
- endanger human health,
- bring about an unacceptable change in the composition of the foodstuffs or a
deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics thereof.
In flexible packaging one has to consider the printed layer as an integral part of the
packaging material and hence as a source of possible transfer. Of course, only
substances whose molecular size is small enough are likely to be transferred from a
printed layer that has been formulated and dried according to GMP. In other words,
ink constituents with sufficient vapour pressure, diffusion rate, and solubility may be
expected to migrate.
