The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) announcement IS15495 to ban toluene in food packaging inks is a landmark development, according to leading ink manufacturer Siegwerk.
“The steps taken by BIS towards promoting food safety are very commendable and progressive. We welcome this move. India will now join the list of countries that do not use toluene in food packaging inks,” Ashish Pradhan, President, Siegwerk India and Greater China, said in a statement.
Siegwerk has banned the use of Toluene across global operations, including in India, a few years ago. The company has made significant investments in its process and machinery to change to toluene free production ensuring zero cross contamination from toluene-based products, he said.
“This also means our products are already meeting the toluene ban regulations and customers will benefit as they do not have to experience any down time, that could have otherwise resulted due to adjustments in the process/ upgrading of technology, to meet the regulatory requirements. Siegwerk has always been on forefront of packaging safety and hence offers inks which are free not only from toluene but also ketones. Siegwerk inks are formulated to be non-toluene and non-ketone,” he further stated.