Food Packaging Printing UK: Food-Safe and Greaseproof Print Explained
Food packaging printing is printing on anything that touches food, from greaseproof wraps to takeaway boxes, using inks, coatings and materials that won’t pass anything into what’s inside. In the UK, that packaging has to be safe for the food it holds and backed up by paperwork that says so.
Here’s a familiar one. You order a batch of branded burger wraps, they arrive looking spot on, and then someone asks whether the ink is food-safe. Nobody’s sure. The wraps can’t go out, and you’re back to square one with a launch date coming up fast.
The good news is that it’s easy to avoid. Food-safe print mostly comes down to asking the right questions before the artwork’s signed off, and that’s something we’re happy to help with.
What does food-safe printing mean?
Food-safe printing means the packaging won’t transfer anything into the food in amounts that could harm health or change how the food tastes, smells or looks. That transfer is called migration, and it’s the idea every food packaging rule is built on.
You don’t need to be a chemist to follow it. Migration can happen in three ways:
- through direct contact, where the printed surface touches the food
- through the material, where ink on the outside works its way through to the inside
- through set-off, where printed sheets are stacked or rolled and the ink presses onto the clean side of the next one
That last one catches people out. Printing only on the outside of a bag doesn’t automatically make it safe, because the inside of one bag sits against the printed outside of the next.
What are food-safe inks?
Food-safe inks, usually called low migration inks, are made to keep the substances that could move into food to a minimum. They’re the starting point for most food packaging, because standard printing inks aren’t made for food contact.
They can cost a little more, and some colours look slightly different from standard inks. If your brand has a very particular shade of orange, ask to see a proof on the actual material before you sign anything off. A quick check at that stage saves an awkward conversation later about why the wraps don’t match the menus.
What makes packaging greaseproof?
Packaging is greaseproof either because the paper or board resists grease on its own, or because a coating has been added to the surface. Both work, but they behave differently once they’re in use.
A coating can wear away with heat, folding or rubbing, and a naturally greaseproof paper won’t. So if your packaging is going to hold anything hot, oily or wet, tell your printer at the start. That detail decides the material, not just the finish.
At Birch, we produced thousands of sheets of branded greaseproof paper for Marston’s Paddington-themed menu, which ran across 250 locations. Every sheet went out with a dish, and the client’s food team fed into the specifications alongside the marketing team, which is exactly the right way round.
Does my packaging count as direct or indirect food contact?
Your packaging counts as direct food contact if it touches the food, and indirect if something else sits in between. A sandwich wrap, a cake box liner or greaseproof paper under a burger are all direct contact. An outer carton around a sealed bag is indirect.
Direct contact comes with the fuller set of requirements. Indirect contact is less demanding, but set-off and migration through the material still need thinking about.
Be realistic about how the packaging will really be used. A box designed as an outer becomes direct contact the moment someone drops an unwrapped pastry straight into it.
What paperwork do I need for printed food packaging?
The main document for printed food packaging is a declaration of compliance, which confirms the packaging is suitable for the food it’ll hold and sets out any limits, such as maximum temperature or contact time. That declaration relies on information from the ink and material suppliers further up the chain.
This is the bit most businesses forget until a retailer or auditor asks for it. If you supply supermarkets or larger hospitality groups, expect the question. Asking for the paperwork when you place the order is far easier than chasing it afterwards, so put it in your brief from day one.
What should I tell my printer about food packaging?
Tell your printer what food the packaging will hold, how it’ll be stored and how long the two will be in contact. Those few answers shape the whole specification, so have them ready before you ask for a quote:
- what’s going in it, and whether that’s dry, moist, fatty or acidic
- whether the packaging touches the food directly
- where it’ll be kept, such as a freezer, chiller, microwave, oven or counter
- how long the food stays in it, as a sandwich wrap and a long shelf life product are very different jobs
- whether it needs to resist grease, moisture or both
- any retailer or customer specification you’ve been given
If you don’t know some of the answers yet, that’s fine. At Birch, we’d much rather talk it through with you than guess. Our guide to what to know before ordering printed packaging covers the wider brief too.
How does food packaging affect the design?
Food packaging affects the design in three ways: colour, space and coding.
Colour comes first. Low migration inks and uncoated or greaseproof papers take ink differently from glossy coated stock, so images soften and colours can shift. A proof on the real material shows you what you’ll actually get, and our design for print team can set up artwork with that in mind.
Space comes next. Ingredients, allergens and best before or use by dates need room planned in from the start, and they need to stay readable on the finished pack rather than being squeezed in at the end.
Coding comes last. If batch codes or dates are added after printing, leave a clear panel that suits the printer or labeller doing the job.
How do I keep food packaging consistent across a range?
Keeping food packaging consistent across a range comes down to managing it as one job, not lots of separate orders. Wraps, outers, labels, menus and point of sale all have different requirements, and they still need to look like they belong together.
At Birch, that’s what our print management service is for. You get one point of contact, and every job goes through our quality assurance process of spec, file, physical, process and supplier checks before it reaches you.
When should I talk to a printer about food packaging?
The best time to talk to a printer about food packaging is before the design’s fixed, because that’s when a quick question can save you a full reprint. Got food packaging in the works? Get in touch and we’ll talk it through.
