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Voluntary standards and third-party registration programs continue to grow regarding food safety for lubricants.
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS BASED on an STLE University Webinar presented by Ashlee Breitner, business unit manager of the NSF International Consumer Products and Nonfood Compounds programs, on March 18, 2015.
NSF International works with products that encompass many aspects of food production. Its mission is to protect and improve public health and safety, which is accomplished by pulling together industries, consumers and regulators to create common grounds such as industry standards, product standards, protocols and guidelines. It also tests and certifies products toward those common sets of ground.
It works with products such as lubricants but also with cleaners, water treatment chemicals and other chemical processing agents that aren't supposed to come into contact with food or be added into the food supply during production processes.
NSF provides services to thousands of organizations in 150 countries, conducting safety audits for the food, water and consumer goods industries, writing more than 80 standards to promote the safety of food, drinking water, indoor air, dietary supplements, consumer products and the environment. NSF International also tests and certifies products to NSF/ANSI and ISO standards. It develops sustainability solutions and training and education programs that cover anything related to the world of food, water and consumer goods sectors. It has collaborated with the World Health Organization since 1997 in water quality and safety, food safety and indoor environments and continues to develop innovative information technology capabilities to meet its goal of creating common grounds between all the stakeholders.
LUBRICANTS IN FOOD PROCESSING
As more processes are automated in food production and reliance on machinery increases, there are more pressures on food processors operating with reduced work staff. These companies have higher goals for yields and waste reduction in production facilities while plants and operators are under time pressures with less emphasis on personnel training and education.
There are customer pressures to those sourcing food products around private labeling, contract manufacturing and retailers putting regulatory and additional testing requirements on products. The need to focus on food safety now is growing.
Lubricants used in production processes offer the possibility of cross contamination into food. The growing concern for food-safe lubricants raises questions about whether...