The Difference Between Food-Grade Silicone and Regular Silicone

As food safety issues are increasingly being emphasized and the pandemic has drastically changed people's eating habits, more and more silicone eco-friendly tableware packaging bags are appearing on the market to replace disposable plastic products. Although in previous articles we have emphasized the non-toxic and safe characteristics of silicone, specific product usage and related certification procedures will still use different ingredients for production. Today, let's talk about the differences between food-grade silicone and ordinary silicone.

Food-grade silicone refers to being edible? Of course not. It is important to reiterate that silicone is, in general, safe, non-toxic, and harmless to the human body as a raw material. However, it can still be distinguished into food-grade and ordinary grade. Food-grade liquid silicone refers to all products that come into contact with our food, such as baby pacifiers, straws, food containers, utensils, and more. Ordinary silicone is generally used for industrial purposes and cannot be used for these types of food-related products. The main differences between food-grade silicone and ordinary silicone are as follows:

The manufacturing methods and procedures of food-grade liquid silicone and ordinary silicone

Food-grade liquid silicone generally selects high-quality raw materials, and the quality of the materials has already been determined when selecting the raw materials. Therefore, quality inspection reports are essential when procuring raw materials. This does not mean that the quality of ordinary silicone is not good, but rather that there are different application areas between the two. Ordinary silicone products are made by blending ordinary silicone, while high-quality food-grade products are made using food-grade gas-phase silicone. As we know, silica is one of the main components of silicone, and the purity and density of gas-phase silica are higher than that of ordinary silica. Therefore, the difference can be seen in the finished product, mainly in terms of tensile strength. Food-grade liquid silicone rubber has a reinforcing effect on the tensile properties, so whitening phenomena will not appear during the stretching process. Therefore, to preliminarily identify whether a silicone product is food-grade, judgment can be made based on this point.

The composition of food-grade liquid silicone and ordinary silicone

Silicone used for food is an inorganic polymer colloidal material that is made by condensing silicic acid. It is non-toxic and tasteless, chemically stable, and under normal conditions, it does not react with any acid, alkali, or salt except for caustic soda and hydrofluoric acid. It can withstand temperatures up to 220°C, so it can be used in a microwave oven without any effect on the human body. Compared to other materials, it has the characteristics of being safer and healthier. Food-grade liquid silicone rubber has strong stability and is more suitable for healthy and safe living.

The certification of food-grade liquid silicone and ordinary silicone

Products made from food-grade liquid silicone rubber are silicone products processed from food-grade silicone rubber raw materials. According to market demand, it needs to meet environmental testing requirements.

We believe that in many industries, the importance of material selection has a certain impact on the quality and performance of the product. The raw materials used for Zhejiang Zheng'an Silicone Co., Ltd. are compliant with regulations and are backed by material property tables and related testing reports. If you have any problems or needs, please come to Zheng'an!