The BlindSpotz technology of CTI (Chromatic Technologies Inc.) is helping stop product tampering by inventing the first dual-indicator to detect product tampering from heat and freezing. The use of extreme temperatures (especially sub-zero temperatures) to circumvent traditional security measures on packaging has increased substantially among criminals in recent years, with no effective deterrent until now.
To date, most tamper indicators only reveal heat tampering (such as using a heat gun to melt glue on packaging tape). BlindSpotz ‘Tamper Freeze’ and ‘Tamper Heat’ inks show colour and messaging when thieves use heat OR cold to tamper with packages. The ‘Tamper Heat and Tamper Freeze’ ink technologies from CTI are designed to protect documents, seals, tape, labels or various packaging substrates. ‘Tamper Freeze’ inks turn from clear to blue when exposed to temperatures below -10° C while ‘Tamper Heat’ turns from grey to orange (or grey to pink) if exposed to heat greater than 65° C.
The long-time industry standard has been a ‘high-heat’ tamper indicator that changes colour, but now there’s a tool to fight bad actors who use cold spray, freezing or liquid nitrogen to pull apart a money or document bag and remove and replace an expired label or bypass security tape–treated, high-heat irreversible inks. According to CTI Founder Lyle Small, “Criminals have figured out that the way to get around high-heat tampering indicators is to ‘go cold’ by exposing packaging to very low temperatures. This can “delaminate” many adhesives without activating a tamper-heat indicator.
“The BlindSpotz ‘Tamper Heat and Tamper Freeze’ inks eliminate both threats,” Small continued. CTI’s ‘Tamper Freeze’ ink is the only tamper-evident product on the market to identify sub-freezing tampering. Additionally, the ‘Tamper Heat’ ink offers multiple advantages compared to existing high-heat tamper evident inks: they maintain colour if exposed to very high temperatures (greater than 100° C for instance), Tamper Heat/ Tamper Freeze technology activates within a 5° C window, can be printed with adhesives and over-print varnishes and will last much longer on the shelf than existing “heat irreversible” systems, in both wet and printed states.
The ‘Tamper Heat and Tamper Freeze’ inks are part of the BlindSpotz technology portfolio from CTI developed to print sensors on-pack to measure temperature compliance, confirm high-pressure processing (HPP) pasteurization and detect tampering or water damage. The ‘Tamper Heat-Freeze’ ink is available in UV Flexo and Water-based inks systems.
