Is this plastic safe for food?

     I have been coming across more and more sites promoting the creative re-use of plastic containers and bags for food storage options rather than turning them in for recycling. Some of these ideas though clever, brought concerns for safety. However, In the search for identifying food safe plastics for creative food storage, I have found very little usable information on the web. In fact most sites offering information turned out to be not only inaccurate but outright dangerous in their tips and recommendations. The worst referring to the recycle category as a usable reference guide to food grade plastic. The FDA and the Plastic Industry do little to clarify the situation. Other Sites that show up have little or no bearing on the food grade issue and just talk about plastics in general. The FDA documents are almost worthless unless you have a researcher to search through the shear volume of data, a lawyer to interpret what it means, and a chemist to explain the multitude of chemical compositions. For end consumer guidance, it's worthless when trying to determine suitability of an existing plastic item. Why is this?
     The FDA has no government-run process of inspection of plastics produced for food contact use. Instead their regulations provides certain standards regarding composition, additives, and properties. A material which meets these standards can then be stated as FDA COMPLIANT. For a product to be USDA COMPLIANT, components used in direct food contact must be documented as to their compliance with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act ("FDA compliance") by a written letter of guaranty from the manufacturer to ensure that they are formulated in compliance with appropriate regulations. In short, current FDA and USDA policies allow food contact plastics quality and compliance to be self-certified by the manufacturers without prior Agency review and approval. Yes, they police themselves. For your interests, two items are required to determine FDA compliancy and/or safety, your intended end use and the exact chemical composition of the plastic. We know what our end use will be but we cannot get the polymer composition. As far as the manufacturer is concerned, FDA compliant food contact formulations are mixed for the manufacturers specific end use. These vary for single use or reusable item formulations. Most formulations are proprietary secrets and will not be released. Only the manufacturer knows what is in the actual polymer so only they can determine its designed end uses and other allowable uses, There are also no mandatory labeling requirements for identifying food safe products. For example, Produce bags are sold only for limited transport of produce from store to home and reduce limited cross contamination, either from or to the contained produce. Any further assumption of usability is irresponsible and downright dangerous in regards to other food uses.These are designed for one time use and are only formulated for that.  Also pathogens from unwashed produce may also be introduced to the bags on first use and contaminate other foods placed in them later. Can you say salmonella. The bags design or polymer composition are not made for re-sanitizing. The words "Please return to a participating store for recycling." are printed  there for a reason, Liability.
     The most serious misunderstanding about food grade comes from misinterpretations of the recycle codes. The recycling numbers offer no insight as far as safe food use is concerned. They only identify the polymer type for recycling separation purposes only. No further use is intended nor should be applied. Non food grade polymers with the same numbers exist and can contain additives for anti-microbials, anti-oxidants, anti-statics, colorants,  fillers, flame retardants, lubricants, and additional plasticizers. This not only makes them food unsafe but possibly toxic or carcinogenic threats when coming in contact with food. This is why post recycled consumer food grade plastics are down-cycled into plastic lumber and never back into food grade plastics again. Even within FDA Compliant food grade plastics, they are still limited to their manufactured intended use. A food grade product intended for dry products may still leach toxic components when in contact with acidic, alcoholic or fatty liquids and this data may only be supplied to the packaging plants buying and filling them with dry products. Since you do not have the exact formulation of plastic containers or bags, You CANNOT determined the FDA suitability or safety of the plastics for other food uses unless the plastic manufacturing company lists them for you. You the end user are responsible for using the plastic product in a matter that is compatible with FDA guidelines and industry sells them as such. Since you have no access to specific formulations, you cannot determine any compatibility outside manufacturers original intent. You are the one liable for sickness, cancer, injury or death resulting from plastic use for other than manufacturer specified purposes. With the average consumer so willing to accept full liability through ignorance, don't expect any future clarification of food compatible plastics.
     Would a food grade plastic labeling program be complicated to implement?  Unfortunately, yes. Labeling considerations for food classification would have to include dry products, wet products, safe PH levels, temperature stability, UV stability, polymer to food compatibility and microwave compatibility as well as covering all the compatible polymers, polymer combinations and coatings.  I would not hold my breath to see one in the future.
     So back to the original question. How do I determine if a plastic product is safe for my intended food application? Unfortunately, there is only one way. Contact the plastic manufacturer and ask them. At the very least, be ready to supply very specific information on your intended use. If they don't respond, then the answer is "NO".
     Just for fun, try the following. Go to your favorite food storage containers website and type in the search box "food grade" or "FDA Compliant". Next get your favorite sandwich bag package or storage container and find "food grade" or "FDA Compliant" anywhere on it? Should I be concerned?
                                                                                                                                                       SML

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Blog "plastic4dinner.blogspot.com"
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Title - Is this plastic safe for food?
Revised - 06/07/13