Inkjet & Digital Printing

Print EU Regulation 1169/2011 Compliant Labels

Monday 13. April 2015 - Make informed choices in relation to consumed food products thanks to Primera's labelling solutions

Food allergens can be life threatening and the only way people can manage a food allergy is to avoid the foods that make them ill. In the UK, it is estimated that one to two percentage of adults and five to eight percentage of children have a food allergy. This equates to around two million people living in the UK with a food allergy, this figure does not include those with food intolerances.1 Considering that, there are actually even more people living with a food allergy or food intolerance.
An allergic reaction can be produced by a tiny amount of a food ingredient that a person is sensitive to (for example a teaspoon of milk powder, a fragment of peanut or just one or two sesame seeds). Symptoms of an allergic reaction can range from mild symptoms such as itching around the mouth and rashes or can progress to more severe symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea, wheezing and on occasion anaphylaxis shock. It even can cause death.
Therefore, the European Union installed a new consumer regulation that focuses on allergens in food. From 13 December 2014, the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation (No.1169/2011) outlines the new requirements for businesses, which are providing food sold prepacked and non-prepacked (loose) such as food sold in a restaurant or takeaway. From that day on, all food businesses will need to provide information about the allergenic ingredients used in food sold or provided by them.
In order to have food product labels that are compliant to the new EU regulation it’s not enough to just list allergens that are included in a product. It’s also mandatory to use a certain font size depending on the size of the label. And those allergens also have to be highlighted in a certain way.
A product label is the first source of information for people with food allergy and/or intolerance to help them decide if they can buy and eat that product without risking an allergic reaction. And recent studies have shown that the readability of information is a key factor to the consumer’s purchasing decision.
There are several different printing solutions out there. One of the leading manufacturers of speciality colour label printers is Primera Technology. Primera is widely known for its inkjet-based LX-Series label printers, but has also successfully developed short to medium-run solutions using colour laser technology, such as the CX-Series of digital roll-to-roll dry toner-based laser printers.
Primera’s LX-Series desktop printers utilise the latest high-resolution inkjet technology to print brilliant full-colour labels. With spectacular 4800 dpi print resolution and high throughput speeds these compact and affordable printers print on a wide range of different label, tag and ticket materials including inkjet-coated high-gloss, semi-gloss and matte labels. Labels printed on high-gloss material are highly scratch-, smudge and water-resistant. The fastest and most economical LX900e comes with separate ink cartridges for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Separate ink cartridges save time and money on every printed job as only the colours that are empty need to be replaced.
In addition, Primera recently announced the availability of highly-durable pigment inks for the LX900e. Previously, only traditional photo-quality dye-based inks were available. The new pigment inks offer far more stability against harsh conditions including water, chemicals, abrasion and exposure to long periods of UV light. A significant advantage of the LX900e’s implementation of pigment inks is that the printer can use either type of ink by simply changing out the removable print head – an exclusive feature that sets the LX900e apart from other desktop label printers.