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Letter Re: What Determines if a Storage Bucket is Food Grade?
Mr. Rawles,
I recently purchased some five gallon buckets at Wal-Mart that I thought would
be considered food-grade. I'm afraid these are probably the paint buckets
you recently warned against, but I read elsewhere on the web that if there
was a "2" inside of the recycle-symbol on the bottom of the bucket, the bucket
would be considered food-grade. If these are unsuitable, do you mind going
into a little more detail as to why? Thanks, - Ben J.
JWR Replies: The number 2 (with the number inside the "chasing
arrows" symbol) refers to HDPE,
but not all "2" marked plastics
are food grade. Let me explain: The "food grade" designation is determined
by plastic purity by and what mold release compound is used--not by the plastic
itself, since all virgin HDPE material is safe for food. For paint buckets,
manufacturers sometimes use a less expensive (and toxic) mold release compound.
For food
grade they must use a more expensive formulation that is non-toxic.
Unless the buckets that you bought are are marked "food
grade", (or, marked NSF, FDA, or USDA approved), then
you will have to check with the manufacturer's web site to see if they make
all food
grade buckets. For more details, see the
information at this barbecue and brining web site.
