Gallus and its parent company Heidelberg announce that they have developed a version of the Gallus Labelfire UV inkjet printing press for food contact labels. The 340 mm wide Gallus Labelfire Low Migration model produces packaging that meets the food standards of the European Union and the Swiss Ordinance.
"The Gallus Labelfire Low Migration represents a real innovation. Compared to its predecessor, it makes no compromises when it comes to print quality, color gamut and lightfastness of the inks." says Uwe Alexander, Digital Product Manager at Gallus.
New inks for the Gallus Labelfire Low Migration
To develop the Gallus Labelfire Low Migration, the R&D team of the two German manufacturers had to develop a new series of eight-color inks, Saphira Labelfire UVLM (LM for "low migration") inks, as well as an optimized UV curing technology to improve the migration properties of the ink film.
A new drying system for low migration printing
Directly after printing, the substrate goes through a dryer with an inerting chamber filled with nitrogen. The complete absence of oxygen optimizes the drying of the inks. Gallus offers an optional UV booster that reduces the curing time of the Labelfire UVLM inks in order to achieve the maximum print speed of 50 m/min.
This system allows "a very wide range of applications and thus also addresses various market segments" . "The Labelfire Low Migration is perfect for getting into digital packaging printing for the food and pharmaceutical markets." says Thomas Schweizer, Business and Product Manager at Gallus.
In addition to the UV curing system, the Gallus Labelfire Low Migration is equipped with UV and oxygen sensors. These production parameter measurements allow the printing quality of labels and packaging to be monitored.
In production for several months
Two Gallus Labelfire presses, including one at the German printer Birkhäuser + GBC, have already been producing labels and packaging that meet the legal requirements of the European market for months in a field test.
Labelfire UVLM inks comply with the requirements of the EU standards No. 10/2011, No. 1935/2004, No. 2023/2006 (GMP), the Swiss ordinance, the Nestlé guidance note and the EuPIA guidelines.
