Food Grade Rubber – Everything You Need To Know
7th October, 2022
Designed especially for use with food preparation, manufacturing and packaging, food grade rubber is a certified rubber grade that has been approved for use.
What is Food Grade Rubber?
Food grade rubber is a grade of rubber that has been specially certified and approved to be used for food preparation, manufacturing, and packaging. As well as being specially designed for use with food, food grade rubber is also suitable to be used within liquid and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Food grade rubber can be manufactured in a number of materials, including silicone, natural rubber, nitrile, neoprene, and polyurethane rubber for food grade rubber products.
What Exactly Makes Rubber Food Grade?
All food grade rubber rules and standards are governed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Whilst this is a US based agency, these standards and rules for food grade rubber have been adopted on a worldwide basis. In the UK, the standards of the FDA are emulated by the processes that have been set in place by the BSI for manufacturing food grade rubber.
The FDA are responsible for approving any rubber materials that come into contact with consumables. Food-grade rubber needs to meet specific standards to be approved. The process for approving material involves a review of the manufacturing environment, as well as rigorous testing of the material to ensure it has the properties to withstand the challenging applications that the food processing and beverage machinery poses. If the material passes all of the testing phases, then it will be approved by the FDA, meaning it can be used alongside food.
What Are the Common Properties of Food Grade Rubber?
The most common properties of food grade rubber are that it is non-toxic and has a high temperature range. In addition, all food grade rubber is non-allergenic, and resistant to both water and mould, ensuring that no organic bacteria will not form on the rubber.
In order to avoid the rubber tainting the quality and properties of the food it is used with, all food grade rubber is tasteless and odourless. It is a tough and reliable material with a long life span.
What Are the Five Best Food Grade Rubber Materials?
Whilst there are many rubber materials that meet strict FDA guidelines, we would argue that the following five materials are the best food-grade rubber materials:
- Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM)
- Fluorocarbon
- Neoprene
- Nitrile
- Silicone
- Viton
See our Top Food Grade Rubber Materials article to find out why these materials are the best for food grade rubber.
Aquaseal Rubber’s Food Grade Rubber Products
At Aquaseal Rubber, we manufacture the majority of our products in food grade rubber, including seals, gaskets, sheets, and extruded and moulded parts. We can guarantee that all of our products comply with the FDA regulations and only contain approved substances, with all our products going through rigorous testing to make sure that they will withstand the challenging applications posed by the preparation, manufacturing and packaging of food and beverages.
Get in touch with our rubber specialists today to discuss your food grade rubber needs.
