Lubricating greases and NSF certification
What are the properties of a lubricating grease for the food industry? What about NSF approval and certification? Are you sure what you put in your bearing is properly certified? Is it true that approved greases cannot be coloured? Read this article and let's see if we can resolve your doubts.
Each specific point of application requires a particular lubricant. But, between NSF regulations, approvals and legislative constraints, the situation in the food sector is even more complicated. How many times have you heard phrases such as, "Our grease is H1-approved and is therefore fine for that bearing" or "The product you are using isn't synthetic so it is not approved and cannot be used?"
In reality, both statements contain partial truths but to what extent?
Within the food industry, a good bearing grease must have the following characteristics:
The information provided by the National Sanitation Foundation, the official body on the health compatibility of products, classifies lubricants that can be used within the food industry into 2 main families:
Obviously, the above cannot extend beyond the analysis of the point of application of the lubricant. Particularly:
It is also important to consider the operating conditions to which our lubricant is subject. In a cooking oven, for example, we must check with our supplier that the composition is such as to guarantee resistance to high temperatures.
We should also check that the product used (or set to be use) maintains its food grade performance even at those temperatures. At this point, an analysis of the safety data sheet will also become necessary, in particular in the sections of the composition/information on the ingredients (see Point 3), on the physical and chemical properties (Point 9) and on the toxicological (Point 11) and ecological information (Point 12).
A food-grade lubricant does not necessarily have to be synthetic in nature, although this choice is certainly to be preferred for two reasons. One is better performance than a mineral-based lubricant and the other, a lower tendency for the proliferation of microorganisms.
This is in order to eliminate and/or minimise the proliferation of microorganisms (in particular fungi, bacteria and moulds) which would inevitably affect the organoleptic qualities of the finished product.
It is also necessary to eliminate any preconception linked to the colour of the lubricant. In the past, white was the "let-through" for an H1 or H2 certification but the continuous evolution in the formulation of new lubricants has also dispelled this myth. Certainly, white is preferable in terms of:
We are not able to exactly determine all the possible chemical combinations that occur within the formulation, handling and use of lubricants once applied by the customer. Therefore, we must carefully check - together with our supplier - that no ingredients containing heavy elements (such as antimony, lead or selenium) have been deliberately included whilst also ensuring that interactions with our system have also been considered.
The presence of such components could in fact alter the entire processing cycle.
Basically, a food-grade lubricant product must be free of ingredients that can release toxic substances at any stage of the life inside the bearings. Therefore, we have to take into consideration all factors concerned and, only once we have analysed the technical requirements (Point 3), the application needs (Point 4) and the main points of the safety datasheet, can we proceed with the correct selection of the our NSF H1- or H2-certified lubricant product.