RadTech Europe concludes its second Food Packaging Seminar in France in 2010

The second RadTech Europe food packaging seminar of the year took place in Paris, France on the 9th of November. Once again, RadTech Europe succeeded in attracting a group of expert speakers to inform attendants of the various technical and regulatory facets of safe printing of food packaging.  In order to reach local companies and end-users, the presentations were offered in French.

The goal was again to provide a clear, balanced view on the safety and pros and cons of radiation curing technology for food packaging and connecting and educating people from the various disciplines across the industry. The strategy / how, RadTech invited a group of highly experienced and qualified specialists across the industry (raw materials, printing inks, equipment, packaging, officials and brand owners) to share their views. The experts were asked to present, challenge, question and discuss the proper use and application possibilities utilizing the benefits of the technology to the max. Companies presenting included BASF, CEHTRA, Constantia-TEICH, CYTEC, IST METZ, Keller & Heckman, Sartomer, Siegwerk and Sun Chemical.

Mr Charly Brunet from Sartomer welcomed the participants with a short introduction to the seminar and to RadTech Europe in general. His introduction was followed by a presentation by Dr Rieckenbrauck of IST METZ (subject: ‘Applications’), who discussed the production methods currently used in the packaging printing industry and the packaging will reviewed and how to design safe food packaging materials with UV technology.
Mr Gevaerts of Cytec then gave an overview of general chemistry of UV technology for food packaging (title: ‘Chimie générale de la résine’), followed by a presentation from Mr Birbaum of BASF focusing on the chemistry of photoinitiators (‘Photoinitiateurs à faibles émissions pour l'impression d'emballages alimentaires’).

Mr Fournier of Sartomer discussed the design, fabrication and analysis of suitable monomers food packaging (‘Conception, fabrication et analyse des monomères convenant à l'emballage alimentaire’), after which Mrs Semail of Keller and Heckman gave a thorough overview of both European and national legislation with regard to food packaging safety (subject: ‘Réglementation et sécurité alimentaire’).

After the lunch, Mrs Gasnot of CEHTRA discussed the practical implactions of these regulations and how companies can ensure they are in compliance with French legislation (title: ‘La législation nationale et l'impact sur les entreprises’).

Trends in the packaging market, the challenges faced by printers, printing options and migration limits were topic of the presentation of Mr. Wattremez of Sun Chemical (‘Tendances autour de la Santé et de la Sécurité des Emballages - Le point de vue d’un fabricant d’encres’). He noted that in the end, it is up to the attendees to make choices regarding the printing of food packaging; safe UV options are available.

Mr Veit from Constantia-TEICH illustrated this with a case study, explaining how his company implemented radiation curing in a food packaging line (topic: ‘Garantir la sécurité tout au long de la chaîne, pratiques dans l'atelier d'impression’).

As the final presenter of the day, Mr Larvor of Siegwerk discussed the responsibilities throughout the production chain and the possibilities to ensure safe use of UV technology for food packaging (‘Impression des emballages alimentaires : sécurité de l'emballage – contraintes et solutions’).

All attendees received a special certificate, signed by the RTE President, Mr Helsby and the Chairman of the Marketing Committee, Mr Grob, for participating in this food packaging seminar. All in all, the seminar offered the attendees a thorough overview of the possibilities for safe use of UV technology for food packaging. The overall seminar and the presentations were all rated above average. Participants were of the opinion that the presentations were interesting and covered the whole chain in the packaging process. The program was well balanced and there were good networking opportunities. RadTech Europe will continue to organize industry related seminars in the future, where the association hopes to attract more printers as well.