Food & Beverage

Food Grade Rubber Seals and Gaskets

Food grade seals, gaskets, and mouldings must meet demanding criteria set by design engineers in the food, beverage, and dairy industries. Products from EMI Seals and Gaskets can be found all over the world in the production and distribution of the food and beverage industry. Our chemically resistant food grade rubber seals, gaskets, extrusions, and mouldings adhere to industry standards.

We have created food-grade gaskets, seals, and mouldings to meet the diverse and inventive needs of our various clients. This has allowed us to develop an unrivaled in-depth understanding of elastomeric material performance.

With regulations becoming increasingly stringent and the consequences of issues getting more severe, we guarantee that our solutions are industry-leading and properly matched for the specific application.

IP69K certified

Our metal x-ray detectable product line has been particularly created to fulfil the needs of the food and beverage industries while also completely complying with FDA standards. Our high-quality products eliminate the need for the manufacturing process to be concerned about problems that may develop when employing lower-quality products.

As per EN 60529 and DIN 40050-9, our food and beverage industry manufacturing seals and gaskets can be IP69K certified for protection against hot steam.

IP69K denotes:

The highest level of dust protection for the application (IP6_).
The application has the highest level of protection (IP 9K) against water infiltration, even when using high-pressure or steam cleaning.

FDA-Compliant

FDA gaskets must adhere to rigid, predetermined rules on the composition of their materials and the applications to which they are put to use. In fact, all food-grade applications require that all rubber seals utilised in these regions and sectors must be FDA-approved.

The term “FDA grade” refers to gaskets that must adhere to a stringent set of rules and FDA standards, be non-toxic, and adhere to chemical compatibility rules. FDA-compliant rubber material grades can be used to make O-rings, hygiene gaskets, and specially designed components.

FDA-compliant elastomer products are typically:

Used for food, drink, dairy, meat, or any chemicals that are compliant with food
Dependable performance across a wide range of temperatures
Flavourless, odourless, and crucially resistant to the growth of germs.
Non-toxic, non-allergic, and non-marking

These include class A-D (dry foods), Class A-E (aqueous foods), and Class A-F (fatty foods). Silicone, Nitrile, EPDM, and Natural Rubber, all in sponge or solid form, are among our food-grade and WRAS (Water board) approved products.

Gaskets that have received FDA approval go through stringent testing to ensure they can withstand the rigours of all food processing applications.

Our DetectElast range is FDA-Approved, click here for more information.

NSF 51 Certified Food grade gaskets

Commercial food service equipment, water treatment or distribution systems, and other applications that may have an impact on human health and safety require NSF gasket materials. In order to assure that potentially harmful contaminant won’t migrate from the gasket material when in contact with food or drinking water, rubber compounds that are registered with NSF International (previously the National Sanitary Foundation) must pass stringent tests.

We also have our own NSF / ANSI 51 certification for Seals and Gaskets that come into direct contact with food on equipment and follow the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) principles and application guidelines. Every step of the production process is checked to guarantee the integrity of the final product, and our materials and products can be traced back to the original source of each raw material element.

NSF/ANSI 51-compliant rubber compounds could be approved for contact with all food types or only with particular food substances. The maximum use temperature and the colour of the material are also listed in test reports for NSF gasket materials. For gasket designers who must satisfy high-temperature specifications for bakeries or dairies, the latter specification can be particularly crucial.

For materials and finishes used in the production of commercial food service equipment (such as broilers, beverage dispensers, chopping boards, and stock pots), NSF/ANSI 51 provides minimum public health and sanitation requirements (such as tubing, sealants, gaskets, and valves).

Obstacles of seals and gaskets in food-grade applications

Safety and hygiene – Prior to being utilised in food applications, all sealing materials must adhere to rigorous safety and health requirements and standards.
Process requirements – Processes and methods used in the production of food vary widely. variable in terms of pressure, temperature, etc. Seals must thus be capable of coping with various differences, including cleanability.
Stable and neutral – This refers to the need that seals to be odourless and tasteless, helping to guarantee nothing undesirable comes into touch with food components or products. Seals must also be stable and neutral. These seals and gaskets need to be stable and keep undesirable impurities out of the product stream in order to do this.
Periodical cleaning – The difficulty of cleanability in food applications is significant. It is necessary to periodically clean food-related applications and equipment using powerful chemical disinfectants, steam, etc. Sealing materials must thus be capable of sustaining these regimes.

We continuously conduct research and innovate while collaborating closely with clients to provide the ideal rubber compound mix for the necessary application. This has the finest cost-benefit ratio and leads to increased lifespan, improved performance, and longevity.

You can also get more information on EMI Seals and Gaskets’ work in the food and beverage industry, as well as how we can apply our experience to your food and beverage business, by submitting our contact form to discuss our solutions.