Food Grade Rubber Products: An Array of Polymers for a Wide Variety of Applications


Food grade rubber products are necessary in applications where edibles are present. Rubber components are available for applications such as food processing, dairy, meat packing, restaurants, commercial kitchens, butcher shops, hospitals, and pharmaceutical processing. To ensure that all consumers ingest safe and non-contaminated aliments, it is critical to choose materials that comply with FDA requirements when fabricating food grade rubber products.

Food grade rubber materials and FDA compliance

The US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has strict standards and requirements in place for the types of materials that can come into contact with food and other consumables. The Federal legislation that covers indirect food additives for rubber products is FDA Code of Federal Regulation Title 21 (FDA 21 CFR 177.2600), which states that, “Rubber articles intended for repeated use may be safely used in producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, preparing, treating, packaging, transporting, or holding food, subject to the provisions of this section.”

CFR 21 FDA 177.2600 is essentially a list of permitted base elastomers and vulcanization materials. The materials on this list are used in rubber production and are considered food safe. For a material to be considered FDA compliant, the ingredients used in its manufacture must appear on this list.

In servicing our customers’ needs for food grade rubber products, CRG uses only FDA compliant materials that are manufactured using only FDA approved ingredients. In this blog, we highlight four such materials that we employ. These rubber products are provisioned by our supply chain partner American Biltrite. Below you will find the main characteristics of our four food grade polymers: EPDM, Neoprene, Nitrile, and Natural Rubber.

Food grade rubber products: Materials

CRG uses American Biltrite FDA approved rubber materials to fabricate gaskets, countertops, non-slip pads, equipment skirting, and other food grade products. These materials are odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, and display a natural resistance to bacterial growth. Their properties and characteristics are described below.

EPDM

  • Excellent resistance to heat, ozone, and weather

  • Good resistance to ordinary diluted acids and alkalis

  • Superior resistance to hot and cold water

  • Temperature range of -40°F (-40°C) to 250°F (121°C)

  • Color: White

  • 60 Durometer

Neoprene (CR)

  • One of the earliest synthetic rubbers, developed as an alternative to natural rubber for moderate oil resistance

  • Good resistance to abrasion, a popular choice for industrial applications

  • Moderate resistance to oily and greasy food products

  • Color: White

  • 55 Durometer

Nitrile (NBR)

  • Excellent resistance to oil where food items are present, examples are animal fats and vegetable oils

  • Dairy 3A certified for milk production

  • Good abrasion resistance

  • Very good resistance to alkalis and acids

  • Color: White

Natural Rubber (NR)

  • High tensile strength

  • Superior abrasion resistance

  • Excellent rebound elasticity (snap)

  • Good flexibility

  • Color: Beige

  • 40 Durometer

Using our advanced converting capabilities, CRG can fabricate a wide range of food grade rubber products from these fine American Biltrite materials. Products we can fabricate include gaskets and seals, equipment skirting and guarding, countertops and food preparation surfaces, non-slip pads and mats, shields and covers, and more. All products we fabricate are made using the latest CNC technology in our ISO 9001:2015 certified facility.

To find out more about how we can service your need for food grade rubber products, please contact our sales team directly at crg@canadarubbergroup.com.