What are the evaluation standards for NSF food grade lubricants?
June 15, 2023
Currently, more than 13000 products from over a thousand lubricant manufacturers and traders worldwide have passed NSF's evaluation of food grade lubricants. The evaluation of food grade lubricants by NSF has become a recognized symbol of safety in the global food, beverage, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. In 2006, NSF issued the first registration letter for food grade lubricant products to local lubricant manufacturers in China. Up to now, it has served over a hundred lubricant manufacturers or traders in China, and its food grade lubricant products are used in domestic and foreign food, beverage, and other production and processing enterprises. Key point: Why should we update the standards for food grade lubricants? The update of the "Food Grade Lubricant China Certification" standard from "H1" to now is an important step taken by NSF in its 20 years of deep cultivation in the Chinese market, adhering to the vision of "protecting and improving human health", and committed to serving the Chinese market. The Chinese certification label for 'food grade lubricant' is NSF's first non English label for food grade lubricants worldwide, which has been filed by the China Certification and Accreditation Commission and approved by NSF Legal and QA. Meet the needs of Chinese regulatory agencies, production enterprises, and consumers. The new certification standard has been upgraded from the original "H1" registration standard, adding product testing, factory audit, and product traceability mechanisms to the formula evaluation. We no longer rely solely on the compliance of formulas as the basis for issuing food grade qualifications. The new certification standards ensure that products can meet food grade requirements in terms of formula design and end products. These measures can protect the vital interests of certificate holders, reduce counterfeit NSF certifications circulating in the food grade lubricant market, risk products that are inconsistent with licensed formulas, products with inconsistent or substandard OEM quality, and so on. In addition, allowing end users to use high-quality food grade lubricants can better protect consumers' food safety and help promote the healthy development of China's food grade lubricant market.
The new certification standards comply with the entrustment and initiative of Chinese regulatory agencies, with Chinese "food grade lubricants" certification labels and certificates in both Chinese and English, as well as traceability mechanisms, making it easy for end users and regulatory authorities to conduct product verification and inquiries. What is a food grade lubricant? The definition of food grade lubricants in the NSF evaluation standard is "Lubricants with accidental food contact", which refers to lubricants that come into contact with food by chance. For example, mechanical equipment is commonly used in industries such as food, beverage, and cosmetics. Usually, these operating equipment use lubricating oil, so the basic function of these products is to lubricate the processing equipment. However, the design purpose of such products is not to be directly added to food as an additive or in direct contact with food.
Due to the probability of accidental contact between lubricants and food during the operation of these devices, it is necessary to ensure the safety of such products so that they do not cause serious harm to the product or the human body in use. NSF's evaluation of food grade lubricants is based on FDA's 21 CFR regulations, which list the safety of most of the internationally validated chemical components. Only safe base oils and additives will be accepted by NSF's evaluation, which is also the first step for products to become food grade lubricants.
Why use food grade lubricants?
Food grade lubricants shoulder the responsibility of lubrication and safety, and equipment typically operates in high-temperature or low-temperature environments, such as food grade low-temperature chain oils used in the frozen food processing industry. No matter how harsh the working conditions are, it is necessary to ensure the existence of lubrication effectiveness in order to effectively protect the functionality and energy consumption of the equipment.
Food lubricants can not only meet the operating requirements of various equipment, but even accidental leaks will not cause harm to food and human health.
Why don't we use animal vegetable oil directly as food grade lubricant? The reason is that animal vegetable oil usually fails to meet the requirements of equipment lubrication in viscosity, demulsibility, oxidation stability and other performance indicators. This type of grease almost loses its lubricating effect in high or low temperature environments, which can easily lead to equipment damage and increase maintenance costs. It is also important to note that animal vegetable oil is easy to breed bacteria and aflatoxins on the equipment. Our food equipment must be safe!
