Pressroom Panacea?

As of yet, UV flexo cannot be used in direct-contact food jobs in the United States. Propheteer's Polkinghorne attests, "In Europe, UV flexo has really been taking market share away from rotary letterpress, but it's happening to a lesser extent in the States because of the food packaging issue."

This country's water-based flexo-friendly attitude may be part of the reason UV flexo's European growth appears so expansive. Nilpeter President John Little describes the historical European prejudice against water-based flexo. With the emergence of UV flexo, he notes, converters could "save face," by saying, "Oh, it's not flexo, it's UV flexo." Also, Little explains, "because the high-end market in Europe was almost exclusively UV letterpress, the switch to UV flexo was cheaper and easier."