Food Grade Tissue Sheets

Why Food-Grade Tissue Matters

The tissue paper sold in craft shops and stationery suppliers isn’t designed for food contact. It’s made for gift wrapping, where appearance matters more than what might transfer to the contents. That tissue can contain acids that migrate over time, dyes that bleed when they get slightly damp, and optical brighteners added to make the paper look whiter.

Put that tissue in a biscuit tin and leave it for a few weeks. The products inside may pick up off-flavours, develop discolouration, or end up with dye marks where they touched the paper. It happens slowly enough that you might not notice until a customer complains, but it happens.

Food-grade tissue is manufactured to different standards. The paper is acid-free, which means it won’t react with products or transfer unwanted chemicals over time. There are no optical brighteners or problematic dyes. The material is tested and approved for direct food contact under EU regulations. It costs more than craft tissue, but for anything that will touch food, it’s the only appropriate choice.

Tissue vs Greaseproof - Different Jobs

This distinction trips people up. Tissue paper and greaseproof paper look similar and both get used in bakeries, but they do different things.

Tissue is for handling and presentation. It’s what customers use to pick up pastries without touching them directly. It’s the soft lining in a gift box. It separates delicate items so they don’t stick together. The paper is thin and lightweight, designed for gentle contact rather than protection.

Greaseproof is for barrier protection. It stops oils and fats from soaking through. Wrapped around a butter croissant, greaseproof keeps the grease inside the wrap rather than on the customer’s hands. It’s thicker and denser than tissue, engineered to block rather than just cover.

Using tissue where you need greaseproof means grease soaking through to hands and surfaces. Using greaseproof where tissue would do wastes money and adds unnecessary weight. Match the material to the job.

Bakery Pick-Up Sheets

The small squares customers use to handle pastries in self-service displays. Reach into the case, grab a tissue square, pick up a doughnut, drop it in a bag. Hygienic handling without direct hand-to-food contact.

For busy bakeries, interfold dispensers make this faster - pulling one sheet out presents the next one, so customers can grab quickly without fumbling in a pile. The sheets need to be the right size for the products and the display setup, which is why we cut to your specification rather than offering only standard formats.

Pick-up sheets are single-use by nature. A customer touches the tissue to handle their product, then it goes in the bag with the food or gets discarded. Food-grade certification matters because the tissue makes direct contact with products that will be eaten.

Box Liners and Interleaving

The soft paper lining the bottom of a chocolate box. The sheets between layers of biscuits so they don’t stick or damage each other. The tissue around a premium food gift that customers see when they open the package.

For confectionery, tissue adds both protection and presentation. It cushions products against movement, prevents items touching and potentially marking each other, and provides that moment of visual quality when a box is opened. Chocolatiers use tissue extensively - lining boxes, separating individual pieces, wrapping premium truffles.

Double-sided products in a gift box need interleaving between layers. Without it, chocolates or biscuits pressed together may mark, stick, or transfer flavours. Tissue sheets cut to fit the box exactly look better than oversized sheets crammed in roughly.

Gift Presentation and Food Hampers

Premium food hampers need presentation tissue that’s actually safe to use with food. The tissue visible when customers open the hamper, the paper nestled around specialty items, the wrapping on individual products - all of it should be food-grade if it’s anywhere near edible goods.

Craft tissue from gift suppliers might look similar but isn’t designed for food contact. If a jar shifts and the tissue ends up pressed against an unwrapped cheese or touching artisan chocolates, you want materials that won’t transfer chemicals or flavours.

We supply tissue in white and colours, with custom printing available for branded hamper presentation. Your company details, seasonal designs, or patterns that reinforce the premium positioning of the products inside.

Printed Tissue

Custom printed tissue turns functional packaging into brand presentation. When customers open a box of your chocolates, unwrap a gift, or reach into your bakery display, they see your logo, your colours, your brand identity.

Printing uses food-safe inks formulated not to transfer to products. The ink adheres to the tissue surface and stays there, so products that touch printed tissue don’t pick up marks or off-flavours.

Printed tissue works particularly well for:

• Premium food gifts where presentation matters
• Branded bakery pick-up sheets
• Confectionery box liners
• Luxury hamper presentation

Minimum orders and lead times apply for printed tissue. Get in touch with your design or brief and we’ll quote for your requirements.

Sustainability

Tissue paper is about as straightforward as packaging gets for end-of-life. It’s biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable through standard paper streams. No coatings to separate, no treatments that complicate disposal.

For businesses prioritising sustainable packaging, food-grade tissue ticks the environmental boxes without compromising on food safety. It breaks down naturally if composted, recycles cleanly if put in paper streams, and comes from renewable wood pulp sources.

FSC and PEFC certified tissue available for customers with chain-of-custody requirements.

Where Food Tissue Gets Used

Bakeries and patisseries - Pick-up sheets for self-service, counter service, and anywhere customers handle products.

Chocolatiers and confectioners - Box liners, interleaving, individual wrapping for premium pieces.

Gift food retailers - Hamper presentation, product wrapping, premium packaging.

Farm shops and delicatessens - Presentation for specialty products and gift items.

Cafes and coffee shops - Pastry counter pick-up sheets, cake box liners.

Food manufacturers - Interleaving between layers during production and packaging.

Get in Touch

Tell us your application - bakery pick-up, confectionery boxes, gift presentation, something else. We’ll advise on the right weight and finish, cut to your required sizes, and quote for printing if you want branded tissue. Samples available so you can test before committing to volume.