Posted: 3/17/2012 7:40:49 PM EDT
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How can a HDPE bucket be identified as food grade? I have read that HDPE with a recycle symbol containing the number 2 is a good indicator, but does not necessarily guarantee it is food grade.
Any suggestions? Thanks. |
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Quoted: How can a HDPE bucket be identified as food grade? I have read that HDPE with a recycle symbol containing the number 2 is a good indicator, but does not necessarily guarantee it is food grade. Any suggestions? Thanks. HDPE2 is considered by the FDA as a plastic suitable for food use applications. However, that doesnt mean EVERY bucket with the HDPE2 symbol is safe for food.For example, a bucket that held wd40, cleaners etc would not. The safest way to make sure is to buy NEW buckets or used ones from the food industry ( deli,doughnut shop etc). For example firehouse subs will sell a pickle bucket with lid for 2$. Now, as for food grade symbols...  Ive only seen one type of plastic with the fork/glass symbol and that was a water bottle and they are PET plastics... If you buy a new bucket( aka from home depot lets say) and your packing your LTS with mylars( like you should) , there is no worries. If you pack with mylars in a used pickle bucket( or icing bucket or other food) , you have no worries. You get a 5 gallon bucket that held engine cleaner...you have issue's. just stick with the bold and you'll be fine. |
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In the original bucket packing video I said "buckets marked HDPE 2 are GENERALLY CONSIDERED food grade."
I think a lot of people in their own mind HEARD "any bucket marked HDPE2 IS food grade." But of course that is not at all what I said. Further I explained the getting buckets that previously held food, icing buckets, pickle buckets, etc. and made it crystal clear that you wanted to avoid buckets that had chemicals in there. www.bucketpacking.com Every single bucket I've packed over 26 years has had an HDPE 2 marking on it. Every single bucket I've purchased from Walton already pre packaged has had an HDPE2 marked on it. When we packed commercially (over half million lbs. of grain alone) in 1998 and 1999 we first looked at what the big boys were doing (Using new HDPE2 buckets with mylars) and we contacted Ropak, the largest bucket manufacturer in the country and asked them what to use. The answer was new buckets that had HDPE2 markings on them. And we packed (commercially) thousands upon thousands of buckets back then. In 26 years of preparing and packing food for my family and helping people all over the East Coast pack food I've packed thousands more. It's only been recently that you've seen this according to Hoyle "food grade" label on buckets that you can purchase at Lowes. And what pray tell are they marked??? HDPE 2 It's interesting to me the two extremes you have now in DIY food storage. The first extreme thinks that every bit of the food they eat every day is produced and packed in a sterile clean room somewhere where people in bio moon suits carefully clean each piece of lettuce, sterilizing it for absolute cleanliness. These are the ones that obsess about the minutia that matters little in this. Most of these folks have never grown any serious amount of food, packed any serious amount of food or even worked in the food service industry to know the world is not a sterile laboratory. Often times these types get too anal retentive about the minute details and therefore NEVER actually get any serious amounts of food put up. Their is always a reason NOT to- "I don't have a 62.5 degree storage room for it", "I cannot find sterile materials", "the $10. per lb. organic wheat is so much better than the 30 cents a lb. wheat but I can only afford 5 lbs." The opposite and just as bad extreme is the anything goes crowd- these are the types that really never think they will actually NEED or plan to actually USE their food storage. That shows because if they REALLY DID THINK THEY WOULD NEED IT, they wouldn't do the stupid shit they do like using "soda pop bottles", handwarmers for oxygen absorbers, "sheetrock dust", "lime", mylar party balloons and other ridiculous stuff. In the end, whether it's TEOTWAWKI or COLMOLLIIN, you'll have to use up your food storage. You need to pack it CORRECTLY. It's an INVESTMENT folks. It will double and even triple in price with inflation, just like your gold and silver, just like your $72. a case X39 ammo is now THREE times that. Your $14. per HUNDRED lbs. rice is now $16. per FIFTY lbs. It's an investment, protect it. More than an "investment", your family's life might DEPEND ON IT, protect it and pack it correctly! Lowdown3 |
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Rightly or wrongly, I don't lose any sleep over the buckets. I have 'food grade' buckets from Firehouse Subs (the $2 pickle buckets) but also have a number of brand new buckets that have never held chemicals or anything else, yet are not specifically marked 'food grade'. If building a Berkee type filter setup in a life or death emergency, I don't think using one of the new but not specifically 'food grade' buckets would kill me.
That said, I am very cautious about using buckets or containers that are used, if I don't know exactly what was in them. |
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Quoted:
In the original bucket packing video I said "buckets marked HDPE 2 are GENERALLY CONSIDERED food grade." I think a lot of people in their own mind HEARD "any bucket marked HDPE2 IS food grade." But of course that is not at all what I said. Further I explained the getting buckets that previously held food, icing buckets, pickle buckets, etc. and made it crystal clear that you wanted to avoid buckets that had chemicals in there. www.bucketpacking.com Every single bucket I've packed over 26 years has had an HDPE 2 marking on it. Every single bucket I've purchased from Walton already pre packaged has had an HDPE2 marked on it. When we packed commercially (over half million lbs. of grain alone) in 1998 and 1999 we first looked at what the big boys were doing (Using new HDPE2 buckets with mylars) and we contacted Ropak, the largest bucket manufacturer in the country and asked them what to use. The answer was new buckets that had HDPE2 markings on them. And we packed (commercially) thousands upon thousands of buckets back then. In 26 years of preparing and packing food for my family and helping people all over the East Coast pack food I've packed thousands more. It's only been recently that you've seen this according to Hoyle "food grade" label on buckets that you can purchase at Lowes. And what pray tell are they marked??? HDPE 2 It's interesting to me the two extremes you have now in DIY food storage. The first extreme thinks that every bit of the food they eat every day is produced and packed in a sterile clean room somewhere where people in bio moon suits carefully clean each piece of lettuce, sterilizing it for absolute cleanliness. These are the ones that obsess about the minutia that matters little in this. Most of these folks have never grown any serious amount of food, packed any serious amount of food or even worked in the food service industry to know the world is not a sterile laboratory. Often times these types get too anal retentive about the minute details and therefore NEVER actually get any serious amounts of food put up. Their is always a reason NOT to- "I don't have a 62.5 degree storage room for it", "I cannot find sterile materials", "the $10. per lb. organic wheat is so much better than the 30 cents a lb. wheat but I can only afford 5 lbs." The opposite and just as bad extreme is the anything goes crowd- these are the types that really never think they will actually NEED or plan to actually USE their food storage. That shows because if they REALLY DID THINK THEY WOULD NEED IT, they wouldn't do the stupid shit they do like using "soda pop bottles", handwarmers for oxygen absorbers, "sheetrock dust", "lime", mylar party balloons and other ridiculous stuff. In the end, whether it's TEOTWAWKI or COLMOLLIIN, you'll have to use up your food storage. You need to pack it CORRECTLY. It's an INVESTMENT folks. It will double and even triple in price with inflation, just like your gold and silver, just like your $72. a case X39 ammo is now THREE times that. Your $14. per HUNDRED lbs. rice is now $16. per FIFTY lbs. It's an investment, protect it. More than an "investment", your family's life might DEPEND ON IT, protect it and pack it correctly! Lowdown3 I think the same thing is true for those that advocate that potable water be "rotated" every 6 months as if water will somehow go bad at 6 months plus one day. These people don't live in the real world but pontificate as if they do. Thanks, |
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HDPE2 does not mean food grade.
HDPE just stands for High Density Polyethylene. 2 is the recycle code HDPE can have all kids of additives to aid in the plastic being suitable for solvents and paints. You need to call the manufacturer if it isn't labeled food grade. The resin formulation needs to be certified by the FDA to be food grade. Today I called Leaktite. and was told their white HDPE2 buckets sold in Home Depot and ACE Hardware stores are NOT food grade.They have additives to resist solvents. But they do make food grade buckets that are sold at the Home Depot web site only. I just bought 10 of them with lids today. The bucket code ends in FG for food grade. Lids sold separately. Free shipping. $74 for 10 with lids. Best price I could find. link The LOWES Encore white 5 gallon buckets are food grade according to the Encore website, but the lids are not. ETA: HDPE2 can also be made from recycled HDPE2 products. And those are not food grade because they can not certify that there is no residue in them from what was in it before it was recycled and ground up. |
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Another bit I've been told... Even if a bucket is made of 'food grade' materials, if it is not made with a 'food grade' process (mold release compounds) - than it is not considered 'food grade'.
I'm not an industry professional - just heard that from a bucket company I talked to years back. |
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Another bit I've been told... Even if a bucket is made of 'food grade' materials, if it is not made with a 'food grade' process (mold release compounds) - than it is not considered 'food grade'. I'm not an industry professional - just heard that from a bucket company I talked to years back. yes, there are many process additives from what I have read, that produce different glossing and textures of the final product. I suspect this is what the customer service rep was trying to explain to me about additives. |
hmmm my pickle buckets arent marked food grade..but are marked hdpe2 . not to split anymore hairs or help spread the seed of doubt so many have about this(food grade vs not ) . use new or used food buckets with mylars for your LTS and you wont have a problem. That said i can get some machine lubricants that are food grade..doesnt mean i wanna oil my skillet with em  |
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Please, someone correct me if I am wrong.
I am under the impression that it is "ok" to use NEW non-food grade buckets (i.e. Lowes 5 gallon buckets) as long as sealed mylar bags separate the food and the container. I do not care about better options, only whether or not this is safe for long term storage. |
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Quoted: Please, someone correct me if I am wrong. I am under the impression that it is "ok" to use NEW non-food grade buckets (i.e. Lowes 5 gallon buckets) as long as sealed mylar bags separate the food and the container. I do not care about better options, only whether or not this is safe for long term storage. like said already. NEW or used food buckets with mylar is the correct way. |
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Quoted: For the LOVE of ALL that is HOLY can we get a tacked bucket thread? We do this every other month. Please make sure it includes posts on WHERE to find proper buckets...... ahh come on...its fun just like the lets use tater chip bags for LTS and underground conex container threads you see flooding the forums the last month.all them pesky preppers getting ready for COLMOLLIIN..dirty bastards |
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like said already. NEW or used food buckets with mylar is the correct way. Thank you Does the mylar bag allow something from the bucket to seep into it? My understanding was that mylar was sealed and wouldn't allow air, water or anything else to seep into it. |
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Please, someone correct me if I am wrong. I am under the impression that it is "ok" to use NEW non-food grade buckets (i.e. Lowes 5 gallon buckets) as long as sealed mylar bags separate the food and the container. I do not care about better options, only whether or not this is safe for long term storage. like said already. NEW or used food buckets with mylar is the correct way. I don't use non-foodgrade even with mylar and here is why... If/when the SHTF I will either raise food after a period of time, or I will die. Luckily I live on a small farm so I have that covered but once I use my initial stored grains, beans, pasta, and ect. I would like to be able to refill those buckets with the excess food I hope to grow. I am going to assume that I won't have mylar to use at that point, but at least I can 100% safely repack food straight back into my buckets. To me that is worth the couple extra bucks. |
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Quoted: No it doesnt.Quoted: Quoted: like said already. NEW or used food buckets with mylar is the correct way. Thank you Does the mylar bag allow something from the bucket to seep into it? My understanding was that mylar was sealed and wouldn't allow air, water or anything else to seep into it. Mylar doesnt mean go use a bucket that held engine cleaner guys... it means that there is NO worries if your running the buckets from places like HD,Lowe's etc. Honestly as cheap as used food buckets are there should be no reason for these threads.....expect for those anal retentive types who want everything "new" or those thinking that saving .50 cents is the way to go. |
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No it doesnt.
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like said already. NEW or used food buckets with mylar is the correct way. Thank you Does the mylar bag allow something from the bucket to seep into it? My understanding was that mylar was sealed and wouldn't allow air, water or anything else to seep into it. Mylar doesnt mean go use a bucket that held engine cleaner guys... it means that there is NO worries if your running the buckets from places like HD,Lowe's etc. Honestly as cheap as used food buckets are there should be no reason for these threads.....expect for those anal retentive types who want everything "new" or those thinking that saving .50 cents is the way to go. The last words you ever need to know on buckets- Great American Cookie Company. |