Dairy allergen information whatever the packaging

In many cases, the description of dairy products is sufficient to ensure that people understand the allergens it contains. For example, the use of names such as ‘cheese’, ‘butter’ or even ‘yoghurt’ are enough to refer to the fact that there is a milk base to the product.

However in some cases, such as with products that consumers may not identify as primarily milk based, a clear reference to milk should be made to ensure that consumers are informed. This could be with items like fromage frais, Mascarpone, Cantal, Quark, and many other similar products that are not immediately identified with milk in their name.

In these instances, you need to know that you can provide all the necessary information that your customer needs. This could be on transparent or non-transparent packaging, or on any number of different substrates –whatever the case, high quality codes are essential.
 

Dairy coding solutions

With non-transparent packaging, packers may find that they are faced with the need to create high contrast codes that will be visible to the consumer. In these cases, there are a range of inks available to those in the dairy printing sector to help them achieve the codes they require.

The same goes for packaging materials. Should the customer change their substrate to make their packaging more sustainable or lighter, packers need to know that they can still deliver codes that will stay put when the product is refrigerated or frozen, or during normal handling when it could be rubbed off.

With more information needing to be added to packaging, the manufacturer needs to decide whether to preprint this on the packaging, or to include it in the variable coding on the product, thus saving money on pre-printed packaging. And with smaller, bite size packs becoming more popular, the challenge for packagers will be to fit all the required information on each pack.

With another set of changes coming in to effect later this year according to the Food Standards Authority, is your packing line ready? Have a look at our industry white paper for more on how Linx can help those in the dairy industry.