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Importance of Lot Coding and Batch Coding for Food Packaging

Posted by Homayoun Shahrestani on Jun 22, 2020 11:43:00 AM
Originally published by MapleJet on May 21st, 2020. Shared with permission from MapleJet.

Why is the Batch Number or Lot Number important in a Product's Distribution Cycle?

Once the manufacturing process ends and the product is prepared for distribution, printing batch number or lot number, a component of product traceability, is one of the ways for manufacturers to exercise control in case the product is subjected to certain manufacturing issues such as contamination or failure of the product quality of a batch. 

Various regulatory boards such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have instituted regulations and guidelines directing food manufacturers to include general safety and traceability information to ensure that the product is safe and to facilitate organized product recall when necessary.


Example of manufacturing date, expiry date and lot number printed on pharmaceutical packaging. 

 

What is a batch or lot number?

According to the Code of Federal Regulations of the Food and Drug Administration, ¹“lot number or batch number can be any distinctive combination of letters, numbers or symbols, where the history of manufacture, processing, packaging, holding and distribution of batch or lot of drug product or other material can be determined.” 

How is a batch number or lot number printed?

Batch numbers should be printed directly on the product’s primary packaging or on the labels at the end of the manufacturing process. To print a batch number it is important to understand the substrate of the packaging or labels where it must be printed. This is to ensure that the print will adhere to the packaging from holding the product in the warehouse to distribution in various shelves in the market. Maplejet, a Canadian industrial inkjet manufacturer, offers reliable and simple solutions to print batch number or lot number in any types of materials through Hx Nitro thermal inkjet printer.

Why is Hx Nitro best for batch coding?

Hx Nitro thermal inkjet printer has built-in technology to make designing and printing batch number easy and simple for small to large manufacturing industries. It allows the use of personal smartphones or any smart devices to communicate with the printer through its built-in Wi Fi  module. This provides operators an easy and convenient way to design the message, set up the correct print parameters for each message, and monitor the status of printers in the production line. 

The printer can be mounted on many types of packaging lines. This flexibility gives the Hx Nitro an advantage to print batch number or lot number on bottles, packs or even onto cartons. There are also different types of ink available and color options to print on certain materials. 

For consumers, batch numbers printed on the packaging may be just additional information required for a product to pass the government's guidelines and regulations, but it is actually an important part of the whole product distribution cycle to ensure consumer food safety. 

Reference:

¹https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/

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Topics: Coding & Marking, Consumer Protection, Inkjet Coding, Brand Protection, Quality Assurance, Traceability, Supply Chain, Product Identification, Date coding, Label coding, Can Coding, Bottle Coding, Pharmaceutical, Thermal inkjet, TIJ, MapleJet, Hx Nitro

Exciting response to EBS® Handjet launch

Posted by Charles Collins on Sep 19, 2019 10:25:00 AM
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Topics: Coding & Marking, Inkjet Coding, Traceability, Supply Chain, Product Identification, Handheld printer, Park marking, Handheld coder, Portable coder, Portable printer, EBS Handjet, EBS Ink-Jet USA, Stencil

SNEED-JET® Titan T6 Automatic to the rescue after CIJ fails

Posted by Ken Mogensen on Sep 13, 2019 9:45:00 AM

Costly downtime from CIJ repair opens the door for SNEED-JET® Titan T6 Automatic printer

Son Vo is the operations manager at Tribute Energy / Tribute logistics in Houston, TX and he had a problem that is all too common for our customers. For the last few weeks, his team had been struggling with their continuous inkjet printer. It had been serviced several times, yet every time it came back fixed it would only be a matter of days before it was down again. 

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Topics: Coding & Marking, Inkjet Coding, Meenjet, Traceability, Supply Chain, Product Identification, Meenjet M6 Printer, Thermal inkjet, TIJ, continuous inkjet, CIJ, Success Story

Steen's Syrup solves need for white ink printer

Posted by Ken Mogensen on Jun 14, 2019 8:42:00 AM

Meenjet MX1 fits the bill for white ink printer need

We are receiving more and more colored ink printer inquiries, specifically for white or yellow colored inks. Customers have long needed to code on dark surfaces, from amber beer bottles to black PVC pipe. As covered in an earlier blog post, until recently manufacturers didn't have many options other than a pigmented continuous inkjet system. 

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Topics: Coding & Marking, Domino, Markem, Imaje, Inkjet Coding, Brand Protection, Quality Assurance, Meenjet, Meenjet MX1 Printer, Meenjet MX1 Coder, Videojet, Linx, Markem-Imaje, Traceability, Supply Chain, Product Identification, Date coding, Bottle Coding, opaque printer, white ink, pigmented inks, pigmented printer, white ink printer, Success Story

Parts manufacturer upgrades part marking process

Posted by Ken Mogensen on Jun 12, 2019 8:30:00 AM

Big Mike called us earlier this year looking to upgrade his company's part marking process. Big Mike's Sto N Sho, also known as Mike McKinney, produces a wide variety of custom license plate brackets . His products are sold all over the country through wholesalers and auto parts retailers.

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Topics: Coding & Marking, Brand Protection, Meenjet, Traceability, Supply Chain, Product Identification, Family Business, Handheld printer, Stamp, Part stamp, Meenjet M6 Printer, Park marking, Handheld inkjet, Handheld coder, Success Story

Affordable and turnkey bottom coding solution

Posted by Ken Mogensen on Jun 3, 2019 8:27:00 AM

Last month, we were contacted by Mosie Abadi, Vice President at Georgette Klinger Skin Care, who needed to start coding on the bottom of his PET bottles. He was eager to implement a thermal inkjet printing solution due to the affordability and ease of use.

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Topics: Coding & Marking, Consumer Protection, Inkjet Coding, Brand Protection, Quality Assurance, Traceability, Supply Chain, Product Identification, Date coding, Bottle Coding, bottom coding, hugger belt conveyor, side belt conveyor, Success Story, SNEED-JET

Recalls Emphasize Importance of Coding & Marking

Posted by Ken Mogensen on Mar 13, 2019 10:23:26 AM

Major Brands Issue Nationwide Recalls This Week

Two major food brands in the United States were in the news this week with nationwide food recalls. Chef Boyardee issued a recall of over 2,800 pounds of mislabeled chicken and rice products with undeclared allergens. Pillsbury also issued a recall for over 12,000 cases of their Unbleached All-Purpose Flour after a random inspection revealed traces of salmonella. 

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Topics: Coding & Marking, Consumer Protection, Domino, Markem, Imaje, Food Recall, Inkjet Coding, Brand Protection, Quality Assurance, Videojet, Linx, Markem-Imaje, Traceability, Supply Chain, Product Identification, SNEED-JET, SNEED-JET Titan

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