How can label manufacturers effectively minimise regulatory risks even in sensitive applications within the food, cosmetics, and toy sectors? Bobst answers this question with a structured, transparent methodology for comprehensive legal compliance.
„The increasingly stringent and complex regulations across Europe – foremost among them the Swiss Ordinance 2026 and the German Printing Inks Ordinance 2027 – are putting packaging and label manufacturers under greater pressure than ever to comply with legal requirements. At the same time, the branded goods industry expects them to provide comprehensive evidence, based on evidence-based data, of the regulatory compliance of their packaging for food, toys, and pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Manufacturers who cannot demonstrate regulatory compliance in the form of verified declarations of conformity run the risk of being removed from their customers“ supplier lists. Not to mention the potential damage to their reputation resulting from product recalls,„ says Patrick Graber, Head of Marketing for the Labels product line at Bobst, hitting the nail on the head. “These aspects were central to the development of the Thalia UV inks for our digital and all-in-one label printing presses.”
Uncompromising compliance strategy
The company's active participation in the Joint Industry Group (JIG) and in the guidelines of Article 35a of the Swiss ordinance, as well as their support for this forward-looking compliance strategy, has enabled them to align the formulation of their Thalia UV digital printing inks with future regulations. „Our research and development department has excluded more than 20 critical substance groups in the SVHC and TPO-free formulation of this UV ink system,“ Graber analyses. These groups include, among others, PFAS, phthalates, bisphenols, ITX, MOSH/MOAH, parabens, and primary aromatic amines.
As a result, Thalia inks optimally support compliance with key legal frameworks, as defined in Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004, the EuPIA GMP guidelines for good manufacturing practice, the REACH Regulation, and the guidelines of leading brand manufacturers. They therefore comply with current and upcoming regulations. And as they are free from CMR substances, they guarantee maximum safety for both machine operators and consumers.
High productivity and print quality
Furthermore, the UV ink system, specially developed for digital label printing with Bobst's inkjet technology, boasts high performance. It features an optimised process colour set with a wide and stable colour gamut. At printing speeds of up to 100 metres per minute and a resolution of 1,200 × 1,200 dpi, it offers premium print quality and long-term colour stability, even across large print runs, while remaining compatible with many substrates and finishing processes.
In wet-on-wet printing, they enable applications with the widest possible colour gamut and optimal reproduction of spot colours. With the current Thalia ink series, label manufacturers using Bobst digital and all-in-one printing presses can thus ensure legal compliance in their printing processes without compromising on productivity or print quality.
In addition, these inks offer excellent adhesion to the main materials commonly used in label production – including the most common film and paper types. Furthermore, the inks are highly resistant to abrasion, scratches, water, and solvents. „Label manufacturers can open up new application possibilities with them, where UV inkjet technology had previously been unsuitable,“ Graber summarises another advantage of the inks.
Structured methodology for holistic compliance
Not only that: the new regulations make proving conformity a continuous operational task for company management. Against this backdrop, Bobst has, in addition to forward-thinking formulation of Thalia inks with exclusively approved ingredients, developed a set of rules for materials that come into contact with food. By combining inks with certified migration tests and predictive modelling, this enables manufacturers of labels for food products to ensure continuous legal compliance of their processes with a structured and transparent methodology. The experts provide them with a clearly defined window of action with which they can reliably address the risks.
„In packaging production, printing inks are among the most scrutinised components. Our Thalia inks guarantee reliable maintenance of controlled migration levels. With our migration tests, which our experts have developed based on sound scientific models, our customers can reliably document their migration behaviour,“ Graber emphasises. The model is based on SQTS tests, and the results respect the EUPIA standards for migration modelling. This means they are officially recognised. „Theoretical modelling fundamentally simplifies the process and massively saves the time and cost expenditure of physical laboratory tests, thus meeting the demand of the branded goods industry regarding risk minimisation and traceability of the packaging produced for them. To the best of our current knowledge, Bobst is the only supplier that combines physical laboratory tests and predictive modelling in official migration certificates,“ Graber adds.
Simple change
Around 50 percent of label manufacturers in Europe have now switched to Bobst's future-oriented Thalia inks with their digital and all-in-one printing presses. This means they are already using a solution that meets the new German printing ink regulations, which come into effect on 1 January 2027, ahead of time. This not only puts them ahead of the market but also prevents future disruptions to their processes.
Furthermore, the switch to Thalia inks brings a number of additional benefits. The machines do not require upgrades and do not need inert gas, meaning neither a nitrogen tank nor a generator is necessary. Thanks to the optimised formulation, a primer is also not required for most substrates. Therefore, there are no additional investments or costs in these areas. „With the switch to these inks, our customers are making a technically future-proof decision that gives them tangible competitive advantages,“ Graber is convinced.
