The packaging and marking solutions company “PakMarkas” made a strategic resolution, starting from this year, to supply Lithuanian traders and manufacturers solely with the food packaging films satisfying the strictest hygienic requirements, which will be applied in the EU next year. Promoting the film of higher quality the company created a trademark for the one – “SML Quality”.
The today’s scope of use of packaging film is extremely wide: the traders are using it for packing cut cheese, meat, rolls, and many other food products. In this way, the consumer almost every day uses the food, which has a contact to packaging films.
“The film of lower quality, the production of which involves monomeric plasticizers DEHA, contains unhealthy materials that would migrate from the packaging into the food products. Frequent use of the food packed up in such a film may cause a higher risk of cancer”, Ronaldas Vaitiekűnas, “Pakmarkas” Marketing Director, explains the harm made by poor quality packaging materials.
The current general plasticizers migration level set by the EU directives and Lithuanian laws may not exceed 10 mg/dm2. Denmark, Italy and Switzerland already apply more rigorous requirements: the migration level of DEHA plasticizers may not be more than 3 mg/dm2. And such requirements are satisfied by the “PakMarkas” film “SML Quality”. The packaging of lower quality will be forbidden in all the EU countries already in 2005.
„It is a pity that presently the majority of consumers make their choice for packaging material merely according to the mechanical properties (resilience, resistance to tearing, adhesiveness) and, naturally, the price, ignoring, in our opinion, the most important requirement, that is one for hygiene, and human health harm“, says Ronaldas Vaitiekűnas, “Pakmarkas” Marketing Director. There lies a paradox: DEHA is especially liable for improvements of film mechanical properties, while the alternative polymeric plasticizers are more expensive, and the film mechanical properties are of poorer quality.
As the specialist says, the future belongs to healthy products; therefore, the company decided to provide the market merely with the SML quality film from this year on. The SML film price is not considerably higher, and the Lithuanian market is already now capable of making a choice for the new hygienic films. Mr. R. Vaitiekűnas says that the major company clients, such as “VP Market”, are already using “SML Quality” films.
Almighty public opinion
Because of extremely strict requirements applied in Switzerland, the Switzerland film manufacturer „Alimantis“, the “PakMarkas” partner, has made a considerable progress in producing hygienic and eco-friendly films. Their products include “Diamant“, the type of even absolutely non-migrating and easily processed films (without PVC); however, its price is more than 30% higher as compared to that of the currently used PVC film, thus, without any favourable tax and regulating policy of the state we envisage no good possibilities to sell this film in the surrounding markets“, says Mr. Ronaldas Vaitiekűnas.
However, one may never know: the public opinion may sometimes manifest a larger influence as state institutions do. For example, one of the biggest retail chains in Italy pursuing the favourable public opinion is opting for “Diamant“, though the now effective Italian laws allow to use the SML quality film “ | 
