Food-Grade Valves Compliance: Are Your Materials Certified?
In the food and beverage industry, ensuring hygiene, safety, and regulatory compliance isn’t optional—it’s mission-critical. Valves and sealing solutions play a central role in processing, transporting, and storing consumable products. One overlooked component can lead to contamination, regulatory violations, or complete production shutdowns. That’s why understanding food-grade valve compliance is essential.
Why Material Selection Matters in Food-Grade Valve Compliance
Valves used in food, dairy, and pharmaceutical processes must meet strict safety and hygiene standards. The materials used must be:
- Non-toxic and chemically inert
- Corrosion and temperature resistant
- Capable of withstanding frequent cleaning cycles (CIP/SIP)
- Compliant with global standards like FDA, 3-A Sanitary, and EC 1935/2004
Improper material selection can result in leaching, bacterial growth, or valve failure, putting product quality and consumer safety at risk.
Commonly Approved Materials for Food-Grade Valves
Some elastomers are preferred for F&B and Pharma applications to others due to some favourable characteristics. Here’s why
- Silicone:
Excellent thermal stability (-50°C to 200°C), ideal for high/low-temperature processes like sterilization or freezing.
Chemically inert, resisting interaction with food, beverages, or drugs.
Flexible and durable, suitable for seals, tubing, and gaskets
Odorless and tasteless, ensuring no sensory impact on products.
Why its Preferred: Its biocompatibility and wide temperature range make it ideal for sensitive applications over other elastomers like polyurethane, which may degrade or leach.
Applications: Medical tubing, bottle nipples, food-grade seals, and baking molds.
Superior Oil and Fat resistance, great for dairy, meat or oily food processing.
Good mechanical and abrasion resistance
Cost-effective
Why Preferred: Outperforms elastomers like natural rubber, which swells in oily environments, and is more cost-effective than fluoropolymers (e.g., FKM) for oil-heavy applications.
Applications: Seals in food processing equipment, oil-resistant gaskets and pump diaphragms.
Excellent resistance to water, steam, and polar substances (e.g., acids, alkalis), ideal for beverage and pharmaceutical systems.
Outstanding weathering and UV resistance, suitable for outdoor or steam-sterilized equipment.
Good flexibility and sealing performance at low temperatures.
Why its Preferred: Better resistance to aqueous environments than butyl rubber or chloroprene, and more affordable than specialty elastomers like PTFE.
Applications: Gaskets in brewing systems, seals in water purification, and pharmaceutical tubing.
Why Not Other Elastomers?
- Natural Rubber: Swells in oils, has poor chemical resistance, and may contain allergens (e.g., latex proteins).
- Polyurethane: May degrade or leach in high-temperature or acidic conditions, limiting FDA suitability.
- FKM (Viton): Excellent chemical resistance but expensive and less flexible, reserved for niche high-chemical-exposure applications.
- Chloroprene (Neoprene): Limited resistance to oils and steam compared to NBR or EPDM, reducing FDA applicability.
- SBR (Styrene-Butadiene Rubber): Poor resistance to oils, chemicals, and high temperatures, making it unsuitable for most FDA uses.
Global Compliance Standards to Consider
To ensure your valves are compliant, it’s crucial they meet at least one of the following standards:
- FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 (for rubber seals)
- EC 1935/2004 (European framework regulation for food contact materials)
- 3-A Sanitary Standards (used widely in dairy processing)
- WRAS & NSF (used for potable water compliance)
ISMAT’s food-grade seals are manufactured using globally certified compounds, offering traceability and documentation to support international compliance.
How Non-Compliance Affects Your Business
Failing to comply with food-grade valve requirements can lead to:
- Regulatory fines and audits
- Product recalls
- Production delays or shutdowns
- Long-term damage to brand reputation
What to Look for in Food-Grade Valve Components
- Documentation: Material certifications (FDA, EC 1935/2004, WRAS, etc.)
- Traceability: Batch traceability of seals and components
- Performance Data: Compatibility with cleaning agents, steam, and process media
- Engineering Support: Custom solutions tailored to your process environment
At ISMAT, we provide high-quality sealing components engineered for hygienic applications in food, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries. With a focus on certification, traceability, and performance, our seals help OEMs and processors meet global compliance while optimizing equipment reliability.
ISMAT’s Role in Food-Grade Valve Compliance
ISMAT’s food-grade sealing solutions are developed to support complete food-grade valve compliance with FDA, WRAS, and EC norms. From material selection to final documentation, we ensure every component contributes to safe and hygienic operations.
Ready to Upgrade Your Food-Grade Sealing Systems?
Ensure every valve and seal in your process line is compliant and high-performing. ISMAT’s team can support you with the right material selection and documentation you need to maintain standards and consumer trust.
Connect with us today to discuss your food-grade sealing challenges.
