Paper-based packaging industry makes pledge over mineral oils

09 December 2011

Business

The European paper-based packaging industry is to phase out the use of printing inks based on mineral oils for food packaging, following last March's health scare.

The pledge from the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) and the International Confederation of Paper and Board Converters in Europe (CITPA) follows a study published in March which revealed that mineral oils found in the inks of recycled newspapers could migrate into the food products within the inner bag.

The research by the Food Safety Laboratory in Zurich found that, in some cases, the mineral oils present were between 10 and 100 times higher than the regulation limit for foodstuffs such as cereals, pasta and rice.

CEPI and CITPA said that the industry had already made reductions of up to 90% in its use of mineral oils.

CITPA secretary general María Casado said that the paper-based packaging chain is to take a "dual tack" approach by working on short-term solutions to reduce the migration of mineral oils to food and aiming to phase-out mineral oils in all paper applications in the mid-term.

She said: "Several parallel actions are being taken throughout the value chain: in Germany, a joint group of ink manufacturers, printers, publishers and the paper industry is in the search of mineral oil-free printing inks for newspapers.

"The paper and board manufacturers are phasing out mineral oil-containing process chemicals, and, wherever possible using recovered paper types with minimal mineral oil content. Packaging producers are switching to use only mineral oil-free inks for printing their packaging."

Casado said that a "measurable commitment" would be launched before the end of the year to meet safe levels of mineral oils in food.

"New technical solutions are being researched and found but it will take time before they are technically and commercially available for packaging applications. This is necessary to ensure that the solution does not solve one problem and create another one. In particular the packaging has to perform well in protecting food and avoiding food waste and to be easy to recycle."