What are food grade metals?

Food grade substances are materials which are not toxic or will not affect a consumer if ingested in small quantities. In general, this is a term used in manufacturing to describe equipment components, adhesives, lubricants etc. which are safe to the consumer if ingested. Although every effort is made to ensure that these substances do not come into contact with a batch of food or drug substance, occasionally this may happen (e.g. due to a leak or equipment malfunction) and in this instance food grade substances would not result in that batch causing harm to a consumer or require that batch to be recalled (whereas non-food grade might).

Examples:

Food grade oil to lubricate a pump

Food grade adhesive used to seal a ready meal pack