Standards and regulations for food contact materials

Hi everybody, I'm working in a company that is begining with the production of coffee machines. Related for food safety, someone can provide me whats standards apply in this kind of industry or which are the regulations that we need to follow to assure food safety. Thanks.

I do not know if there are any standards, but I was in a company in Costa Rica that made coffee machines and their design team had two food safety rules to follow, one - easy for end user to clean an two - no surfaces shall collect debrie.

Hi Everybody,

 

I'm working in a company that is begining with the production of coffee machines. Related for food safety, someone can privide me whats standards apply in this kind of industry or which are the regulations that we need to follow to assure food safety.

 

Thanks

Hi FS90,

I would suggest you initially need a consultant.

I anticipate that Local Standards relevant to yr query will exist.

There are certainly standards for food contact materials, of the type you would find in coffee machines. 

When designing a coffee machine you must make sure that every item that will come into contact with the water, steam, coffee beans, ground coffee, finished coffee and milk is designed and approved as suitable for food contact.  Some plastics and metals are not okay to be in contact with food and should not be used inside coffee machines. 

The US FDA has a list of regulations that apply to food contact materials.  They call these materials 'indirect food additives'.  You can find these regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) title 21, chapters 170 - 199.  There's an introduction to US regulations on food contact materials here: https://www.food-saf...ls-regulations 

There are also European regulations for food contact materials, including EC 1935/2004. 

Usually, manufacturers of products like coffee machines ensure their components are food grade and compliant with the regulations by purchasing only items that are declared by the suppliers to be 'food-grade' or 'FDA approved'. 

When designing a coffee machine ensure all parts are sourced from reputable suppliers.  Create a 'food/water' path diagram that shows all components that come into contact water, food and steam.  Then ensure that every component has a corresponding declaration of compliance from the manufacturer. 

High grade stainless steels are probably the only materials that wouldn't typically need compliance information.  Generally, anything grade 300 or higher is considered 'food-safe'.  Make sure it is polished and has a low surface roughness rating (<0.80) to aid in cleanability and prevent the formation of biofilms. 

I would also add, ensuring your equipment meets (or can meet easily) international electrical safety standards  (not related to your question but important)

Generally speaking, the bowl that the beans have direct contact with should be stainless steel A) depending on the grade, fairly even heat distribution  B) easily cleanable if required