Seals for the Food Industry

Food industry FDA seals

Seals for the food industry must meet three different challenges.

  1. The seal must perform well in the operating conditions it will face.
  2. The seal design and materials must be suitable for contact with foodstuffs.
  3. The seal design must be suitable for the cleaning or sterilizing method to which it will be exposed.

The predominant approach to seals for the food industry has been to simply take seal designs for industrial applications and use materials that are approved for food contact.

For many years, we have been developing and testing seals in house to meet the unique challenges presented by the preparation, processing and dispensing of food and beverages.

In addition to conforming to FDA 21 CFR 177.1680, we have designs for food-contact seals that are also suitable for the following:

  1. Clean In Place (CIP)
  2. Clean Out of Place (COP)
  3. Sterilization In Place (SIP)
Examples of equipment types sealed:
  • Batch retorts
  • Capping machines
  • Food portioning
  • Label adhesive dispensers
  • Seamers
  • Water purification
  • Beverage can manufacture
  • Distilled water pumps
  • High pressure homogenizers
  • Magnetic capping headsets
  • Soft serve dispenser
  • Bottle filling
  • Dry product filling systems
  • Ice cream dispensing
  • Milk dispensing
  • Supercritical fluid extraction
Examples of media successfully sealed:
  • Adhesives
  • Flavorings
  • Milk
  • Steam
  • CIP fluids
  • CO2
  • HFCS
  • Powders
  • Soda
  • COP fluids
  • Distilled water
  • Ice cream
  • Sauces and condiments
  • Water
  • Autoclaving

With a wide range of specially developed compounds and designs, our engineers have a solid platform from which to design the optimum seal for your specific needs. All designs are reviewed by an engineer who has over 25 years of experience in the sealing industry, and each design can be discussed directly with the seal engineer.