Nonfood Categories H1 and H2 In the 1970s, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (ii) developed a non-foods program and published the ‘Guidelines for Obtaining Authorisation of Compounds to be Used in Meat and Poultry Plants’. This included sections on lubricants and many other non-food compounds ranging from pesticides to sewer treatment products. The idea was to define the appropriate use of compounds used in food processing that are clearly not intended to be edible products. The USDA stopped publishing their ‘white book’ of approved H1 lubricants for incidental food contact in 1998, leaving uncertain the future of non-food certification. In 1999, NSF International (iii) reintroduced the USDA standards under their Non-foods Compounds group. Today, the US based NSF International and the UK based InS Services (iv) provide independent reviews of lubricants relative to the USDA guidelines. It is also possible for companies to self-certify that their products meet the standards.
Lubricants fall under categories H1 and H2. H1 lubricants are those that could possibly have incidental (but not intentional) contact with food. The original USDA document lists specific ingredients that may be used to manufacture incidental food contact lubricants. It also references other documents and citations that expand the list of acceptable products. To gain approval as an H1 lubricant, all ingredients must be approved on the basis of toxicological data and are specifically listed as acceptable.
Food plants operate under a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) (v) plan that provides standardised procedures for ensuring ‘an effective and rational means of assuring food safety from harvest to consumption.’ Properly
H1 category lubricants may be in contact with the food you eat
used H1 category lubricants do not need to be addressed under HACCP because they are not considered chemical hazards.
In contrast, H2 lubricants can be used in food plants as long as there is no possibility of contacting food. According to the original USDA document, “There is no specific list of substances which may be used as lubricants where there is no possibility of food contact. Most substances generally used for the purpose in
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