Siegwerk India launches mineral oil-free inks for packaging purposes

In line with its commitment to offering safe inks, Siegwerk comes after the initiative to manufacture Toluene free inks. Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MOAH) can be considered as potential genotoxic carcinogens and pose serious health issues including cancer risk for humans. Siegwerk, one of the leading global suppliers of printing inks for packaging applications and labels headquartered in Germany, has announced their decision to launch Mineral Oil free inks in India for packaging purposes. The inks supplied by Siegwerk from its plant at Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) will not contain mineral oils as an intentionally added substance that comprises two fractions – Mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and Mineral Oil Aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH).

Over the last three years, Siegwerk had taken up the pioneering initiative to remove the usage of harmful substance Toluene from its manufacturing process. Mineral oils are not a chemically well-defined substance, but a highly complex group of various hydrocarbons which are mainly derived from crude oil. Packaging inks are a mixture of various ingredients and some of these chemicals are able to migrate through the packaging material into the foodstuff.

While announcing the launch of the mineral oil-free ink, Ashish Pradhan, President, Siegwerk India and Greater China said, “Although the extent of impact on foodstuff is undetermined by the migration of mineral oil from the packaging, research states that Mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and Mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) chemicals are likely to be easily absorbed by different tissues in human organs.” Siegwerk champions the cause of Toluene-free inks in India and now the company intends to offer mineral oil-free inks, thereby raising the bar on packaging safety and offering further advancements in terms of consumer safety.