Packaging Solutions: Positive About Print
Parkside has collaborated with high tech surface protection supplier, Touchguard, to launch a new packaging solution incorporating an antibacterial coating. The new development enables brands to protect consumers against potentially harmful bacteria.
By incorporating new Touchguard over lacquer, the innovative anti-bacterial design delivers a surface finish that inhibits the growth of bacteria. Utilising a silver based technology, the coating can be applied as a water or solvent based finish and is ideal for a range of packaging formats including flow wraps, lidding films and pouches.
New product development technical manager at Parkside, Mark Shaw, said: ‘Our collaboration with Touchguard has enabled us to create a truly innovative and industry leading packaging solution that will enable our clients to keep their customers safe. The current pandemic has had a significant impact on the way we view in every aspect of life hygiene, and we must be all doing what we can to protect ourselves.'
At Parkside, the Touchguard technology is applied during the print finishing process as a component of a specially formulated solvent based over lacquer. As a result, it adds only pence per square metre to the packaging production process, enabling brands to keep print costs down. Notably, Touchguard is proven to reduce the growth of MRSA by 99.97% and E. coli by 99.96%, making it an ideal solution for food packaging.
Mark added, ‘This latest packaging development from Parkside and Touchguard in no way replaces the need for careful hand washing. However, it is an innovative solution which can inhibit the spread of cross-contamination on packaging substrates that are not usually subject to any cleaning or infection control procedures.’
The coated packaging solution has been thoroughly tested in lab applications and is seen to be stable. The coating has already been independently assessed and certified for anti-bacterial performance to ISO 22196:2011.
