Packaging coating keeps bugs away
German cockroaches and Indian meal moths out of the food chain.
Michelman claims its BugBan 9000 coating can save retailers, distributors and food processors money by reducing the damage to food packaging caused by insects.
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of BugBan 9000 for use on the outside of corrugated surfaces, folding cartons, wood and corrugated pallets used in the transporting of food, the company stated when releasing the product earlier this month.
"It was specifically designed to not just repel insects, but to effectively eliminate the insects before they can penetrate the package -- for the entire life of the package," the company stated.
The water- based coating is repulpable and can be applied to paper and paperboard substrates. It can be applied either off-line or in-line, using rod, blade, flexo, gravure, or size coating application methods.
"Furthermore, controlled studies have shown that material handlers of packaging coated with BugBan 9000 do not experience any significant transference of the product to their hands, even under wet conditions" the company claimed. "Other studies have confirmed that the active ingredient does not migrate through the paper that has been treated to the food contact side."
The company said it tested BugBan 9000 at four universities on a wide variety of insects -- including yellow jacket wasps, fire ants, German cockroaches, and Indian meal moths.
"All reports demonstrated 100 per cent effectiveness in eliminating the insect pests within 24 hours -- eradicating 70 per cent in the first five hours," Michelman claimed.
The annual costs of insect infestation in the sugar, cereal, flour and pet food markets total $226 million annually, Michelman stated.
