Intelligent inks for creating a range of Time Temperature Indicators and Open Life Timers for food packaging

“Insignia科技公司一直在与英国一家领先的超市合作开展一个项目，以帮助提高食品安全和质量，并帮助消费者减少家中的食物浪费。据估计，仅在英国，每天就有超过200万片火腿被扔进垃圾桶。Insignia提出了一个创新的解决方案，以打开后的时间标签的形式解决这个问题。一旦包装被打开，计时器就会改变颜色，显示产品已经打开了多长时间。消费者研究证明，这项技术有助于减少食物浪费，提高食品安全和质量。然而，以目前的形式，它太昂贵，不适合长期使用。现代包装机的大多数薄膜宽度太宽，标准标签涂抹器无法处理，因此需要专业设备。这种设备运行成本高，可用性有限，因此，在生肉、家禽、熟肉和腊肉、奶酪等食品类别上推出标签技术，只能维持一到两个sku（库存单位）。该项目旨在革新技术，创造一个打开后的计时器，作为包装材料的一部分印刷，不需要额外的标签。这将大大降低价格点，鼓励大规模采用该系统。该项目将开发一种创新的变色墨水，可以打印成可回收的单聚合物结构的盖子材料，取代目前不能回收的普通多聚合物材料。当消费者打开产品时，打印的指示器将自动改变颜色，以显示它已经打开了多长时间。Insignia与Antonine Inks合作，后者是这种类型包装印刷油墨的专家，将智能颜料从目前的塑料薄膜格式转移到油墨系统中。油墨需要与食品接触，并与宽卷筒柔印/凹版印刷工艺兼容。墨水的时间需要在指导方针内根据不同制造商的消费情况进行调整。”

"Insignia Technologies have been working with a leading UK supermarket on a project to help improve food safety and quality and help consumers reduce food waste at home. It is estimated that over 2 million slices of ham go in the bin every day in the UK alone. Insignia came up with an innovative solution to this problem in the form of an after opening timing label. The timer changes colour once the package has been opened to show how long a product has been open. Consumer research proved that the technology helped to reduce food waste and improve food safety and quality. However in its current form it is too expensive to be considered for use long term. Most film widths for modern packing machines are too wide for standard label applicators to handle, therefore specialist equipment has been required. This equipment is expensive to run and has limited availability, therefore a roll out of the label technology for food categories such as raw meat, poultry, cooked and cured meats, cheese is not sustainable beyond one or two SKUs (stock keeping units).This project aims to revolutionise the technology to create an after opening timer that is printed as part of the packaging material, negating the need for an additional label. This would reduce the price point dramatically encouraging mass uptake of the system.The project will develop an innovative colour changing ink that can be printed into a recyclable mono-polymer construction of the lidding material, replacing the normal multi-polymer material used, which is currently not recycled. The printed indicator will change colour automatically when the consumer opens a product to show how long it has been opened.Insignia have partnered with Antonine Inks, who are specialists in printing inks for this type of packaging, to move the intelligent pigment from its current plastic film format into an ink system. The ink will need to be food contact approved and compatible with wide web flexo / gravure printing processes. The timing of the ink will need to be tuneable to the various manufacturers consume within guidelines."