Little knowledge about food grade packaging paper
Release time: 2024-02-03
In today's competition in the catering industry, the competition for restaurant food products is far more than just the food itself. The packaging design of food products is also equally important, and for attracting potential customer groups, the packaging design of food products will become increasingly important.
Of course, while we focus on whether the product design is aesthetically pleasing, we also need to prioritize the safety of food packaging, especially for packaging materials that come into direct contact with food. Today, let's talk about some small knowledge about food grade packaging paper and understand what true food grade packaging paper is.
01 What is flexographic printing? What is water-based ink?
Flexographic printing is a direct printing method that uses elastic raised image plates to transfer liquid or greasy ink to almost all types of materials, belonging to light pressure printing. Flexographic printing is unique, flexible, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and meets the hygiene standards for food packaging printing. It is the main printing method for food packaging paper.
And water-based ink is a specialized ink for flexographic printing machines. Due to its stable performance, bright colors, environmental friendliness, non pollution, safety, and non flammability, it is particularly suitable for printing packaging paper such as food and medicine that have strict hygiene requirements.
02 What is corrugated cardboard? What are the advantages?
Corrugated cardboard, a thick and rough paper with a wavy corrugated shape and elasticity. Due to the unique performance and advantages of packaging containers made of corrugated cardboard in beautifying and protecting the contents of goods, they have become one of the main choices for food packaging paper that has developed rapidly and has been enduring for a long time.
Corrugated cardboard is made by bonding surface paper, inner paper, core paper, and corrugated paper processed into corrugated waves. According to the packaging requirements of the product, it can be processed into single-layer, 3-layer, 5-layer, 7-layer, 11 layer corrugated cardboard, etc.
Single layer corrugated cardboard is generally used as a protective layer for product packaging or as a lightweight pad to avoid vibration or collision during storage and transportation.
3-layer and 5-layer corrugated cardboard are commonly used in the production of corrugated cardboard boxes; The 7-layer or 11-layer corrugated cardboard is mainly used to produce packaging boxes for electromechanical, tobacco, furniture, motorcycles, large household appliances, etc.
03 What is kraft paper? Why are kraft paper packaging boxes more durable?
Kraft paper is produced from unbleached coniferous wood sulfate pulp. It has high intensity and is usually yellow brown in color. Half bleached or fully bleached cowhide pulp appears light brown, cream colored, or white.
The wood fibers of coniferous trees are the main raw material for making kraft paper, and the fibers of this tree are relatively long. In order to minimize damage to the toughness of the fibers, they are usually treated with caustic soda and sulfurized alkali chemicals. The fibers are tightly dependent on each other, which can maintain the toughness and firmness of the wood fibers themselves. Therefore, the strength of the produced kraft paper is much higher than that of ordinary paper, It is also more sturdy and durable.
Kraft paper packaging boxes are highly sought after in the packaging industry due to their unique colors, environmental attributes, and strong physical properties, and their development trend is also fierce.
04 What is a fluorescent agent? How to detect the fluorescence reaction of food packaging paper?
Fluorescent agent is a fluorescent dye and a complex organic compound. It can stimulate incident light to produce fluorescence, making substances visible to the naked eye appear whiter, brighter, and more vibrant. In the paper industry, liquid whitening agents are commonly used in papermaking because they can improve the overall aesthetics of paper products under sunlight.
For food packaging paper, the presence of fluorescent agents does not meet food safety requirements. Moreover, food packaging paper containing fluorescent agents may migrate into the food during use, which can be absorbed by the human body and not easily decomposed. Continuously accumulating in the human body can pose a threat to human health.
And to test whether our food packaging paper contains obvious fluorescent substances, we can choose ultraviolet lamps. Just use a handheld dual wavelength ultraviolet lamp to irradiate the packaging paper. If the irradiated paper undergoes a significant fluorescence reaction, it indicates that it contains fluorescent substances.
05 Why does food grade packaging paper always use native wood pulp as the raw material?
When food packaging paper comes into direct contact with food, food safety issues are particularly important. The food packaging paper that completely uses native wood pulp does not have the risk of contamination, can safely come into contact with food, and will not transfer harmful ingredients to the food.
Moreover, the native wood pulp fibers have good toughness, high density, good strength, and better processing performance. There is no need to add special ingredients to improve the appearance, color, and performance of the paper during the processing and production process. Not only does it improve the efficiency of resource utilization, but the paper also has a good texture, natural color (uniform color, no mold, no black spots, etc.), good printing effect, and no odor.
06 What standards must be met for the raw wood pulp (base paper) required for food grade packaging paper?
Must comply with the requirements of the new GB 4806.8-2016 standard (put into use on April 19, 2017). Special reminder: GB 4806.8-2016 "National Food Safety Standards - Materials and Products of Paper and Paperboard in Contact with Food" has replaced GB 11680-1989 "Hygienic Standards for Raw Paper for Food Packaging".
It clearly stipulates the physical and chemical indicators that must be met for food contact paper, including lead and arsenic indicators, residual indicators of formaldehyde and fluorescent substances, microbial limits and total migration, potassium permanganate consumption, and migration indicators of heavy metals.
