Case study: Infant formula compliance

Any company that supplies packaging to the food industry has a duty to ensure their products do not endanger human health. The infant formula market is providing food to vulnerable growing babies so only the highest possible standards are good enough.

Tinmasters has been meeting and exceeding the packaging needs of this very critical market since 1978. We have spent years investing in the knowledge, processes and equipment that we need to comply with the current and upcoming requirements of both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have robust systems in place to deal with:

• Food contact
• Food safety
• Food fraud
• Food defence

For example, in 2015 we were quick to respond to the worldwide concerns being raised about the possible impact of Bisphenol A (BPA) on human health. BPA had been a key component of many plastics and coatings for decades, including some of the coatings and inks use in metal packaging, but as soon as new BPA-NI alternatives became available (with BPA not intentionally added) Tinmasters invested over £300,000 in equipment upgrades and worked with the Welsh Printing and Coating Centre to achieve the optimal performance with these safer coatings and inks.

In the same year we made the decision to formalise our corporate commitment to ethical trading. We underwent a Sedex Members Ethical Trade Association (SMETA) external assessment by Intertek and were delighted to be awarded the highest possible accreditation of full 4 pillar compliance. This confirms that as an organisation Tinmasters is valuing its employees, acting responsibly towards the environment and trading ethically.

Tinmasters provides manufacturers of infant formula (the most sensitive of all food markets) with a cast-iron guarantee that we are complying to the safety standards demanded by their industry. Furthermore, we are committed to making ongoing investments to ensure we remain one step ahead of their requirements. As an example, to ensure we achieve the perfect print finish required for the Chinese infant formula market, we have developed our own innovative Auto-vis® solution to detect errors and imperfections on printed sheets that may be missed by the human eye.