Food labels and marking

Products, procedures and regulations for food labeling

Print food labels

The labeling of ingredients and properties on food labels is legally binding. On the one hand, the information protects consumers and, on the other hand, enables them to make purchasing decisions to their advantage. Food labeling shows, for example, whether additives, allergens, sugar, fat or salt are contained. Thus, shoppers can make informed food choices. They assess whether the food is suitable for them on the basis of the labeling. For 125 years, we have been helping our customers to label food, packaging and bottles in a high-quality and compliant manner. Easy-to-use inkjet printers and labelers offer the highest print quality without compromise. Find out here and apply legible codes at the lowest possible cost - with unskilled personnel and in adverse environmental conditions.

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Food printing - application in the food industry

The application of food labels is one of the regular core activities in the food industry. After all, every penny counts: rejects due to errors or poor quality must be avoided, as well as time-consuming food labeling processes that lead to additional costs. In addition, new legal requirements must be observed on a regular basis. It is not uncommon for the staff to be unskilled. Whether meat labels, beverage labels or a label for honey, the application of legible food labels must always be fast, precise and legally correct. In the process of food labeling, inkjet printers, thermal transfer printers, labeling systems as well as hand-operated label dispensers are often used.

  • Thermal transfer printers transfer information using ink ribbons. Heat is used to transfer the color of the thermal transfer ribbon to the target material. The process is suitable for large batches and offers a precise and consistent print image. Thermal transfer printing is regularly used by the food industry for printing food labels.
  • Fully automatic labeling systems are the first choice when very large quantities of food have to be labeled promptly. You only need a manageable number of skilled workers to operate it. Many models can be integrated into automated production lines on the hardware and software side. The high cycle rate and moderate operating costs represent a major practical benefit of fully automatic labeling systems. A differentiation must be made between automatic label dispensers, which transfer already existing labels, and fully automatic labeling systems, which print the required label themselves by using food label templates. The latter category thus offers a 2-in-1 function.
  • Manual label dispensers and semi-automatic labelers are suitable for very small batches for which the conversion from automatic processes is not worthwhile in terms of finances and time. Their use in the context of food labeling by employees is done by hand.
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FAVORABLE LABELING, BUT WITHOUT COMPROMISE

After installation, we don't hear anything more from our customers at first, because the system runs without any problems.

Your employees will love the easy-to-use marking devices.

Above all, we make no compromises when it comes to print quality!

Inkjet printer marking - Diagraph solutions

Our inkjet printers can be operated intuitively by anyone, whether a trained employee or a helper. Take advantage of the opportunities to make printing and labeling economical, timely, and high-quality. Diagraph printing and labeling systems have low operating costs and minimal maintenance.

  • The IJ400 large character printer features a robust design that is suitable for ambitious environments - for example, industrial packaging marking. The main applications include marking cartons with product data, codes and logos in the highest quality and at high speed. Central ink supply and a character height of up to 100 mm make the model a specialist for porous surfaces of packaging or load carriers. The easy-to-use IJ400 is made up of three main components: Printer, Controller and Display.
  • The Hitachi UX is a high-speed printer for industrial marking. The technology used is the proven continuous inkjet (CIJ) principle. The device performs contactless marking with plain text, best-before dates, logos, barcodes, batch numbers and Data Matrix codes. This makes the UX series the perfect solution for a wide range of standard and special applications. High reliability and cost efficiency are among its many strengths.
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Food labels: rules and regulations

Uniform regulations apply throughout the EU on how food labeling is to be implemented. It is mandatory information. The respective information provides information on how the products must be labeled for consumption and what minimum information must be included on the packaging. The label basically provides consumers with relevant information on ingredients, quality characteristics and properties of the respective food.

Since 13.09.2014, the European Food Information Regulation (LMIV) (EU) No. 1169/2011 is in force. With regard to nutrition labeling, the regulation has been active since 13.12.2016. In principle, the content applies to all EU member states. However, it is possible that additions or more detailed provisions will be made on certain points by the member states.

The Food Information Regulation(LMIV) (EU) No. 1169/2011 first regulates readability, as the mere presence of the information is not sufficient. All information should be recognized and perceived by the customer without much effort. For this reason, the mandatory information must be properly placed in a highly visible location, easily legible, easy to understand and, if necessary, permanently affixed. Under no circumstances may the labeling be obscured by distracting information or signs. Regarding the size, the mandatory information of a food must be shown in at least 1.2 millimeter font.

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Mandatory information on food labels

Legislation provides for the following food labeling information:

Designation of the foodstuff / Sales description / Name of the foodstuff

Manufacturer information - name or company and address

Additives/Food additives

Listing of ingredients of compound ingredients

Best before/ use by date

Nutrition labeling with at least seven nutritional information items

Filling quantity/net filling quantity

Lot or batch number

Price

List of ingredients

The mandatory designation of a food represents one of the most important pieces of information for the consumer. If there is no legally binding name for a product, a designation must be chosen that represents the product well and accurately. The guiding principles of the German Food Book, which is published by the German Food Book Commission, are helpful here. The body of this commission consists of 32 members from science, monitoring, consumer and business. In the book, the general marketing view on the composition and designation of numerous food genera is made explicit. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the declarations with the great practical relevance are not binding, but rather correspond to an expert opinion. Regular reviews of the guiding principles are carried out on the basis of the current state of knowledge.

Food labeling

(LMIV) (EU) No. 1169/2011statutory provision
Guiding principles of the German Food Codepractically important recommendations

Do not pay more than necessary for your labeling

Are you under enormous cost pressure because every penny counts in labeling, too?

Do you also work with unskilled personnel in your production?

You always have to meet new legal requirements?

Our goal is to make your labeling simple and efficient.

Download case study by Jürgen Langbein free of charge

This is what convinced premium sauce maker Jürgen Langbein of the IJ4000 large character printer

  • The print data comes directly from the merchandise management system
  • Direct printing is cheaper than labeling
  • High print image quality
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Download DMK Group case study free of charge

This is what convinced DMK of the Hitachi UX and Diagraph

  • The high printing speed
  • The IP65 protection class
  • The simple operation

Arrange consultation now

Whether food printing or food label printing - for our customer it is only three steps to perfect labeling:

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Consulting

Competent and personal advice

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Installation

Installation of the appropriate marking solution

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Efficiency

Your plant runs efficiently and is easy to operate

Our motto is: "CODING MADE SIMPLE". Arrange a consultation appointment right away!

Coding made simple

We are the experts in our field.
We always think one step ahead and solve problems before they arise to make it as easy as possible for our customers to reliably mark their products.
With us, every customer directly reaches a contact person who takes care of their concerns, asks the right questions and thus finds the right answer.
So that everything is simple and straightforward for our customers.

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What our customers say

dmk

For the marking in the new line came only a Hitachi-
printers, as we have only had good experiences with them so far.
have made.

Matthias Säfken, Team Leader Maintenance, DMK in Edewecht

Country-Products-Logo

Production output has increased because there is less printer-related downtime.

I would definitely recommend Diagraph and the Allen NGT model line to other packagers.

Nigel Robertshaw, Technical & Operations Manager at Country Products, Tockwith York, Yorkshire

langbein

We are the premium company among soup producers, quality is our first priority.

At Diagraph, we have always been impressed by the quality of service, and the new labeling systems are also right up my alley.

Viktor Schäfer, the area manager for labeling, Jürgen Langbein, Kaltenkirchen

FAQ

Do you have further questions? Here you can find more details.

Labels for food must comply with the regulations of the European Food Information Regulation (LMIV) (EU) No. 1169/2011 described above. These regulate the mandatory information on packaged foods in the European Union in a comprehensive, precise and largely product-independent form. In addition, the provision defines mandatory information in distance selling. This includes mandatory information in online trading or mail order before the conclusion of the purchase contract.

CONTACT

ITW Diagraph GmbH

Friedrich-Bergius-Ring 30

97076 Würzburg

DISTRIBUTION

Tel. +49 931 25076 0

Fax +49 931 25076 50

[email protected]

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Tel. +49 931 25076 911

[email protected]

BUSINESS HOURS

Monday till Thursday

08:00 - 17:00

Friday

08:00 - 14:00

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