Should Silicone be used on food contact surfaces?
Hello,
I work for a grain processing company and we are currently deliberating if there is food grade Silicone (sealant) ? Is Silicone food safe or it should be food grade Silicone in order to be used on food contact surfaces?
We've used CRC food grade silicone before so there definitely are specified "food grade" brands out there. Keep the SDS on file with your other chemicals.
Hi Anita; Silicone could definitely be used in food industry, and it should be food grade. Not sure where you could buy food grade silicone items, but I'm sure they do exist (e.g. cake pans, knives, etc.)
Silicone (food grade) on it's own in theory is fine (think baking mats/ cake pans made of silicone non stick coating on pots)
HOWEVER, you are going to end up in a foreign material situation as it degrades and starts to pull away
Joints should be welded (smoothly) to avoid this issue
Have you considered carnauba or other type of "wax" treatment? We used a food grade carnauba to make surfaces slick in one of our machines and it was highly effective.
Real Food Grade Silicone ! Wow !
I guess this is what is meant -
ive seen it done. like scampi said - it usually does become a foreign material risk. can be done - yes. best solutions - probably not.
what are you trying to seal?
We use the brand CRC for our food grade silicone. We also do not use it directly on surfaces where it can degrade (like some others have noted) and end up as a foreign material issue. We just use ours around our equipment or in our processing rooms for general use.