“The already wide use of UV and EB in the package converting industry is driving this initiative,” says David Diehl of PPG and president of RadTech. “While thermally-cured solvent and water-borne systems have been used by the food packaging industry for many years, there are virtually no basic components that have been listed as yet by the [Food and Drug Administration] for the relatively recent strong emergence of UV and EB ink, adhesive, and coating formulations.”
Without FDA clearance, food packaging must ensure a “functional barrier” between the cured UV or EB formulation and the food, according to Ron Holden of Surface Specialties and a RadTech board member. Nearly 50 members attended a planning meeting for the initiative, with the group forming a new RadTech FDA Food Packaging Alliance. The group retained packaging legal specialists, Keller & Heckman of Washington, DC, to administer the initiative. For more details, contact RadTech at 240/497-1242 or visit www.radtech.org. —AO
