3 replies to this topic

[Juribe]

Can anyone point me in the right direction for food safe limits for boiler treatment water? We operate under SQF and FDA, but i could not find anything referring to specific limits of Boiler Treatment Level, Boiler Water Sulfite Level, Boiler Water pH Limits, Conductivity limits, Alkalinity, etc.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Food Police]

Are you using the boiler to cook food (culinary steam)? Also, is your product organic?

[Food Police]

This is from our boiler people who come in and test our boiler water. I asked them where their limits came from and they told me from years of experience, so I imagine there might not be a golden set of numbers.

 

What is critical is that if you are using chemicals in boiler water and using it to cook food (steam) then you need to prove that none of the corrosion inhibiters are carrying over to the product. You can do this with filtration and testing the water at the cooking site to prove its pure. Also if you are cooking Organic product following the NOP, they are definitely concerned about the boiler water, so since we have certified organic product not only do we filter and test the cooker steam, but we unplug the chemical pump next to the boiler that runs the cookers a couple of hours before running the product so we can be absolutely sure no chemicals are carrying over. After running the product, we plug the chemical pump back in.

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[Ryan M.]

As dsnyder9785 mentions it is critical to identify if the steam touches product, or a product contact surface.  If the answer is "NO" to both of these then you have it much easier.  If the answer is "YES" to either one then you need to prove there is no carryover of non-approved chemicals into the product.  The Organic NOP standards are the strictest where you have NO carryover whatsoever.

 

However, if you are not organic then you need to ensure the chemicals used are FDA approved.  The boiler chemical supplier can give you this information, typically a "Letter of Guarantee" referencing one part of the FDA code, 21 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter B, Parts 172, 173, 177, 178, 181 or 182 (including food additives for human consumption).

 

All of these things you listed... Boiler Treatment Level, Boiler Water Sulfite Level, Boiler Water pH Limits, Conductivity limits, Alkalinity, etc are all dependent on the specific chemical(s) used for boiler treatment, the supply water quality, and the specific boiler itself.  There is no one size fits all limit on these chemicals.