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Food & Beverage Industry

There's more to ink than meets the eye: inks aren't just for decoration. They're security devices, package protectors and sensory cues

Food & Drug Packaging, Jan, 2005 by Deirdre Sokol

Since a package is only as good as it looks, it's important that the sum of its parts leave a lasting impression. Eye-catching graphics are one way to make packages jump off the shelf and land in a shopping cart. Packagers continue to rely on inks to get their message across. As packaging becomes more sophisticated, inks are evolving beyond their original decorative purpose and simple properties. Today's inks encompass color change or "thermochromatic" properties, aromas, metallics and other performance features.

Now it's blue, now it's red

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Thermochromatic inks, or inks that change color, are not technologically new, but creative packagers are finding inventive applications for their use. "They're used for a number of special packaging effects including indicators for beverage containers which are best served at certain temperatures," explains Chris Morrissey, corporate spokesperson for Sun Chemical, the world's largest producer of printing inks and pigments.

Novel applications run the gamut from using thermochromatic inks on beer cans to indicate if the suds are cold enough, to food safety devices. Frozen food manufacturers, for example, are using irreversible thermochromatic inks to monitor a product's shelf life. "An irreversible [ink] will only change once," explains Mark Hill, INX Int'l Ink Co.'s director of research and development and vice president of liquid technology. "So those might be used for identification purposes."

If a product requires a certain temperature, irreversible thermochromatic ink can be used to identify if that temperature has been achieved. Ideal applications include frozen meats. If hamburger gets above 33[degrees] F., for example, the UPC code changes color, so the scanner can't read it any more. The consumer won't be able to purchase the product because it thawed to a temperature not deemed safe for human consumption and/or fell below acceptable food hygiene standards. "You don't want that one to turn back because you run the risk of selling bad food," says Hill.

While thermochromatic inks have a great deal of applicability in all sectors of food and beverage packaging, its price tag may be prohibitive to some packagers. They cost more to produce and they're not easy to make. The raw materials are more expensive since they're dye based rather than organic pigments.

Scent-sational inks

While scented inks are considered standard packaging aids, new formulations show potential for more applications, especially in the personal care market. Typical "scratch-and-sniff" technology entails encapsulating ink in a polymer. But this technology has its disadvantages. Anything that has to be released into the air has a limited shelf life, so scented inks are normally used on packages that move off the shelf quickly.

Scented inks aren't an exact science either and the same formulation rarely applies to all applications. Sometimes a lot of scent is needed to get the desired effect, and sometimes less is needed. Trial and error, in other words.

Substrate compatibility can also pose challenges. If it's a solvent-based system, the particular scent has to be compatible with the components of the ink. Plastic substrates work better because it doesn't absorb the scented ink as much as paperboard. You loose some effect in that. A non-porous substrate is helpful.

A new scent delivery system, Rub'n Smell[TM], integrates the scent directly into the printing process where it's applied as a clear over-varnish ink into printed surfaces with little or no visual effect to the printed graphics underneath.

Made by Flint Ink, the scented varnish ink uses a patented form of micro-encapsulation called FOLCOScent[R]. Capsules are made with a synthetic polymer material, keeping them stable in a range of solvents. Their small size fortifies them, too, enabling them to hold up without bursting under the high heat and pressure of the printing process. By decreasing the capsule radius, the wall thickness and stability increases. Scent is released by gently rubbing, not scratching, the printed surface. The rubbing action breaks the capsule imbedded on the surface of the varnish, releasing the fragrance oil.

Jim Berard of Scentisphere[TM], a distributor of the technology, claims that fragrances applied with the technology remain stable under a range of environmental conditions up to 10 years. Berard maintains that virtually any printable surface can be scented "in-line" with the new technology, including bottles, cartons, film and labels. According to Berard, who worked with Flint to perfect the technology, "Rub'n Smell also has about 80% more yield than the old slurry technologies like scratch-n-sniff," which makes the new technology economical since a pound of ink goes a lot further.

Liquid gold

The high drama of metallic ink has always allured consumers--and thus has appeal to packagers. Not long ago, there were just a few shades of gold and silver. Now, there's a complete Pantone Matching System (PMS) book dedicated to a full spectrum of hues with metallic bases.

Food & Beverage Industry

There's more to ink than meets the eye: inks aren't just for decoration. They're security devices, package protectors and sensory cues

Food & Drug Packaging, Jan, 2005 by Deirdre Sokol

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