New National Standard for Paper Cups Keeps Printing Ink Out of the Drink

Will New Measures Leave Mouth-Contact Paper Cups “Blank” to Prevent Ink Ingestion?

Tomorrow, the national standard for paper cups will be officially implemented. The reporter saw in this national standard, coded GB/T27590-2011 (hereinafter referred to as the “national standard”), that a notable provision is that there should be no printed patterns within 15 mm of the cup rim or within 10 mm of the cup bottom. This means that the paper cups we use in the future will no longer be fully colored all over.

At the same time, the national standard also stipulates that paper cups should have no off-odors, must not be made from recycled materials, and must not have fluorescent whitening agents artificially added, etc.

Legal Evening News reporter called several paper cup manufacturers. Many industry insiders, including producers, said the national standard will increase costs, and in actual practice, compared with customer requirements, customer requirements will certainly still need to be accommodated.

This morning, Legal Evening News reporter visited some wholesale markets and supermarkets and found that although the national standard is about to take effect, “three-no products” lacking production date, manufacturer, shelf life and other information are still being sold on the market.

Industry Response: The Focus Is Not on “Blank Space”; Printing Method Is Key

Zhang Juan (pseudonym) is the head of a relatively large paper cup manufacturer in Beijing. Its customers include some state-owned banks and large state-owned enterprises. It produces about 500,000 paper cups per day.

Zhang Juan introduced that currently there are roughly two methods for printing patterns on paper cups: offset printing and water-based printing. Offset printing has bright colors, a sense of layering and is visually appealing; however, because offset printing contains varying levels of substances such as lead, if the current printing method is used and the cup body is fully colored, excessive use will certainly be harmful to the body.

Water-based printing, also called flexographic printing, uses water-based ink with few toxic organic solvents, so it will not adversely affect human health or the environment when used, making it a good choice for paper cup printing.

“Paper cup printing directly affects users’ health and is very critical. However, the national standard does not have many requirements regarding printing methods,” Zhang Juan said.

Regarding the national standard’s “blank space” provision, Manager Liu of another paper cup factory similarly said that the key still depends on which printing method is used, and how much distance is left unprinted is not very meaningful. Using safe, food-grade printing materials has little impact on the human body.

Revealed: Costs of Good and Poor Printing Methods Differ Tenfold

Zhang Juan introduced that the costs of offset printing and water-based printing differ greatly. “An offset printing plate costs 50 to 60 yuan, while water-based printing plates are calculated by square centimeter; 1 square centimeter costs 3 to 5 mao, and one plate costs about 500 yuan. As a result, the plate-making cost alone differs by nearly 10 times.”

In addition, in terms of appearance, offset printing is superior to water-based printing. Offset-printed patterns are very bright and clear in color, whereas water-based printing cannot achieve the same clear effect as offset printing.

“After all, doing business depends on the market, and customer requirements always have to be considered. If customers require clear patterns, attractive appearance, low prices, etc., then we can only use offset printing. The national standard does not explicitly stipulate that offset printing cannot be used,” Zhang Juan said.

Manager Liu analyzed for the reporter from the perspective of raw materials, saying that costs vary greatly among different raw materials. “Good paper cup paper is pure wood pulp base paper; 1 ton costs at least about 10,000 yuan, while cheap paper costs only five or six thousand yuan per ton, or even less. Some also use bamboo pulp or reed pulp as raw materials, which are relatively much cheaper and save considerable cost.”

Industry insiders admit that the main factors affecting users’ health from paper cups are raw materials and printing. However, cheap raw materials and low-cost printing are not strictly regulated, or even have no corresponding requirements, in the new national standard for paper cups, which will allow some unscrupulous manufacturers to exploit loopholes to save costs.

Raw Material Paper Contains Whitening Agents; Paper Cups “Caught in the Crossfire”

Regarding raw materials, to avoid the production of toxic solvents, the national standard stipulates that paper cups should have no off-odors, recycled materials should not be used, and additives used in raw materials should comply with regulations. Additives not within the scope of use prescribed by the state, such as fluorescent whitening agents, industrial paraffin, and industrial talc, must not be used in the production and processing of paper cups.

In response, Zhang Juan candidly said that fluorescent whitening agents are not added when large paper mills produce paper cup base paper, but some residues may remain during production changeovers, so it cannot be said that they can be completely avoided. As long as they are not excessive, there will be no safety problem.

Regarding the addition of fluorescent whitening agents, Zhang Juan also said that this has nothing to do with paper cup factories. “Paper cup factories cannot add whitening agents; it must be done at paper mills, because paper cup factories purchase finished paper—how could they add it at will?”

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362057.html