Performance Polymers
Plastics for food contact applications
BASF provides plastic grades that meet the market requirements for food contact applications. In this sensible market plastics are needed that comply with food contact laws and regulations in the country in which they are marketed. Here is an overview of our available food contact (FC) grades.
Elastollan® FC portfolio
The Elastollan® FC portfolio has been specially developed for the use in food contact applications and is often used in the food industry or in drinking water applications.
Conveyor belts or conveying hoses that are used as system components must not exude any critical substances which are transferred to food and could alter the taste, odor or composition of the food. BASF’s Elastollan® FC grades comply with both the guidelines in the EU legislation on food contact applications and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulations. They are produced in accordance with the stringent safety standards of the GMP (Guidance for Good Manufacturing Practice 2023/2006/EG).
The Elastollan® FC portfolio consists of more than 20 products and concentrates and includes both ether- and ester-based grades. This comprehensive portfolio means that BASF can help customers to develop a wide range of TPU applications with food contact.
Ultradur®
The high rigidity, strength and outstanding dimensional stability of Ultradur® remain comparatively unaffected by external factors such as humidity.
Packaging applications such as films or paper coatings as well as single-layered packaging to seal in the aroma, benefit among other things from the
excellent sterilization, high surface quality, compliance with food safety regulations, and the approval for the drinking water sector of the corresponding Ultradur® grades.
Ultramid®
High mechanical resilience combined with good toughness, but in particular also the wide range of possibilities for product customization, result in a wide variety of applications for
Ultramid® in the field of consumer goods and industrial products. Ultramid® is increasingly being used in areas in which approval issues play a crucial role. For example, there are special products for applications with food contact.
Ultraform®
Ultraform® meets the requirements made of a technical material especially well. It combines high stiffness and strength with outstanding resilience, favorable sliding friction behavior and excellent dimensional stability, even under the effect of mechanical forces, in contact with numerous chemicals, fuels and other media as well as at elevated temperatures. The uncolored standard-grades of our Ultraform® product line are in conformity with the current regulations for food contact in Germany, Europe and the US A with respect to their composition.
During production, food gets in contact with many materials. Such materials are called food contact materials. To ensure the safety of those materials, and to facilitate the free movement of goods, EU law provides binding rules that business operators must comply with. BASF plastics are able to meet those rules, that are also applied for materials used in agricultural food production.
Ultramid® (PA)
Product profile
- High mechanical strength
- Stiffness
- Thermal stability
- Good toughness at low temperatures
- Favorable sliding friction behavior
- Easy procressing
- Indispensable in almost all sectors of engineering for a wide range of different components and machine elements
- High-grade electrical insulation material
- Available unreinforced, reinforced
- UV stabilized grades available
Application examples
- Metal replacement
- Structural parts
- Housings
