Those who work in the U.S. dairy industry understand the importance of maintaining complete product traceability from the production line to grocery store shelves. However, only a few states, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Virginia, have published legislation explicitly demanding that all dairy products have expiration dates on their packaging.
For some, this may come as a surprise. Many people assume that federal agencies such as the FDA and the USDA require dairy companies to place these expiration dates on their products. However, there is no federal law that requires product date coding on anything aside from infant formula.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that dairy companies can forego date coding. In addition to the numerous state laws that require expiration dates on milk cartons, cream products, and more, distribution networks often require them as well. To avoid violating state laws and distribution policies, dairy producers need to mark their products with reliable printing hardware and substrate-compatible ink formulas.
If you’re looking for the best dairy coding solutions to maximize your operational efficiency, here’s how to find them.
The dairy industry is large and diverse, both in product variety and packaging technology. For example, the equipment used to fill jugs and bottles with milk is vastly different from the equipment used to fill ice cream cartons or cups of yogurt. Given that product coding often occurs on the same packaging lines as product filling, there is no “one size fits all” solution. Instead, dairy operations will need to consult with an expert to determine which printing technology will best complement their existing packaging lines.
Most often, we see the following combinations of production line technologies and coding solutions:
| Liquid Filling Machines | Laser marking systems Continuous inkjet printers |
| Cup Filling Machines | Laser marking systems Continuous inkjet printers |
| Flow Wrapper Machines | Laser marking systems Continuous inkjet printers Thermal transfer overprinters |
| Cartoning Machines | Laser marking systems Thermal transfer overprinters Thermal Inkjet Printers |
| Shrink Wrapping Machines | Print-and-apply labeling machines |
| Vertical Form Fill Seal Machines | Continuous inkjet printers Thermal transfer overprinters |
| Case Packing Machines | Print-and-apply labeling machines High-resolution case coders |
For production line technologies with multiple coding solution options, the best marking choice can depend on several factors, including:
It’s also essential to correctly match your marking equipment with your packaging substrates.
Not only is the dairy industry filled with a wide variety of products ranging from ice cream and milk to butter and cheese, but these products can also be packaged in a multitude of ways. For example, milk can be packaged in:
Each of these materials has different surface properties that affect how well they react to certain printing technologies and ink formulas. While laser marking systems and continuous inkjet printers can mark both porous and nonporous materials, for instance, many thermal inkjet printers have ink cartridge limitations and are unable to use ink formulas that are compatible with nonporous substrates (e.g. glass, metal, etc.). Without the right ink formula, markings such as lot codes and expiration dates are likely to become unreadable, destroying product traceability.
Consequently, it’s incredibly important to ensure substrate compatibility before investing in any marking equipment.
Like other industrial worksites, dairy packaging facilities often struggle with harsh environmental issues. Excessive humidity, wet conditions, and extremely cold temperatures can all lead to both messy codes and hardware failures if they aren’t properly accounted for. Fortunately, there are several printing technologies available today that are built to resist these traditionally challenging elements.
Many of today’s top continuous inkjet printers can print on substrates at below-freezing temperatures. Ink formulas can also be created to withstand substantial moisture presence. IP-rated outer structures can protect laser systems, high-resolution case coders, and continuous inkjet printers from dust, airborne particles, and water presence, preventing a common source of hardware failure.
Product coding is an essential part of the modern dairy industry. However, finding the right equipment to get it done can be a difficult task. At C&M Digest, we aim to help those in the dairy field and beyond by providing educational resources on how to mark products in the best way possible. Subscribe to our newsletter today to make sure that you don’t miss out on the next piece of technology that will take your operation to the next level.
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