UV Technology for Packaging Production Approved

The FDA's decision also marks the first time a regulation institution has defined measurable threshold values under which the use of UV technology for food packaging is allowed.

04/04/08 Label and flexible packaging press manufacturer GIDUE has announced that the United States certification and control institution will allow direct food contact with UV or electronic beam formulations.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the Food Contact Notification (FCN772) which allows the use of UV or EB cured formulations as coatings or components of coatings (both including inks) on polymeric substrates, paper and paperboard, metal substrates, or as a component in adhesives. 

The FDA's decision also marks the first time a regulation institution has defined measurable threshold values under which the use of UV technology for food packaging is allowed.

Since it's establishment in 2004, GIDUE has been a member of the Food Contact Notification Alliance, a sub-group of RadTech USA, which has financed the promotion of the FCN772 notification. 

As the only label and flexible packaging press manufacturer within the Alliance, GIDUE has been active, in conjunction with other leading chemical industries and packaging manufacturer members, in the application for FDA clearance. 

Since 2004, the FDA has evaluated the work done by the Alliance and after long and accurate analysis, provided the FCN772 notification’s clearance.
 
It will allow any combination of cleared materials in direct food contact, and it is expected to widen the use of UV and EB technology in food packaging. 

“The FCN772 clearance dramatically changes the perspective of packaging and label printing press manufacturers, among which GIDUE stands out for its pioneering spirit,” enthuses Federico d’Annunzio, President of GIDUE S.p.A.

“This achievement discredits a number of false beliefs connected with UV curing," he says.

"It is immediately clear which benefits will be introduced in the packaging printing environment, a sector where traditionally tight and strict rules are applied for indirect food contact.”

“The goal achieved by the Alliance marks out a radical change for packaging printing,” d’Annunzio says.

“UV technology is restored to its strategic role within the packaging industry evolution, in opposition to water or solvent-based technologies.”