Food Contact Engineering Plastics

Acetal
Acetal which is available in both rod and sheet is an excellent engineering plastic that is a perfect choice for components that come into direct contact with food. Acetal is normally available in either white or black and it's only the white grade that is suitable for food contact. This material is also very easy to machine and will produce components with an excellent surface finish and has a very low co-efficient of friction.

HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)
HDPE is also available in both rod and sheet and will suit food contact applications very well. Both colours can be used in food applications and this particular plastic is also well known for its common use as food and other chopping boards. HDPE is easy to machine and has a low friction and high wear resistance and is also relatively more economical although it can be said that it is not as hard as plastics such as Acetal.

Polypropylene
Polypropylene is also available in both rod and sheet and will suit food contact applications in its "natural colour" form. Polyprop as it is often known as is not as easy to machine and not as wear resistant as other plastics, but it does have a chemical and acid resistance advantage and is one of the lightest plastics available.

PTFE
PTFE Rod and sheet is an amazing high performance plastic that is totally food safe as well as being very low friction and can also withstand incredibly high and low temperatures. PTFE is also known by its trade name of Teflon and although is fairly easy to machine, is considered fairly soft in comparison with other plastics and is relatively heavy.

UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene)
UHMWPE Rod and Sheet is another plastic that is suitable for contact with food as well as being very low friction and high abrasion resistant. Again both colours are suitable for this application.

PEEK
PEEK is one of the high performance plastic range that will outperform most other plastics in most areas and as well as offering food contact suitability, can also offer high temperatures, low friction, chemical and electrical resistance as well as high strength, impact resistance as well as ease of machining. The slight disadvantage of PEEK is the material costs are relatively high.