Is 304 stainless steel food grade stainless steel?

Recently, the owner of a factory was criminally detained for producing low-quality thermos cups. The company's thermos cups were made of non-food-grade stainless steel (201 stainless steel) and sold at low prices to make ill-gotten gains.

Today we will talk about the food-grade stainless steel that is often heard in kitchen appliances and tableware.

First of all, non-food grade stainless steel: the precipitation of heavy metals is very harmful. If stainless steel products for "non-food contact" are used as cooking utensils and tableware, heavy metals are easy to precipitate in high temperature, acidic and alkaline environments.

Heavy metals generally refer to metals with a density greater than 4.5 grams per cubic centimeter. Some heavy metals interfere with the normal physiological functions of the human body and endanger human health. They are called toxic heavy metals. Such metal elements mainly include: lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg) and so on.

Food grade stainless steel strictly limits the migration of lead, chromium, nickel, tin, arsenic, etc., and its lead and chromium content is much lower than that of general stainless steel.

In my country, stainless steel materials that come into contact with food must meet the requirements of the mandatory national standard GB4806.9-2016 "National Food Safety Standard - Metal Materials and Products for Food Contact".

That is to say, stainless steel tableware is allowed to add some heavy metals during the production process, but the amount of these metals migrated into the food cannot exceed the above standards.

Does 304 stainless steel have to be food grade stainless steel? So here comes the question. In the introduction of kitchen appliances and tableware, we often hear merchants advertise that they use 304 stainless steel. So, is 304 stainless steel food grade stainless steel?

Food-grade stainless steel, commonly used are 430, 443, 304, 316, etc., while 201, 202, etc. are not recommended for food-contact industries, because of low rust resistance and high manganese content.

Among them, 304 stainless steel contains 18% chromium and 8% nickel. Such stainless steel has better corrosion resistance and is also called 18/8 stainless steel in the industry. Generally speaking, the migration of 304 steel commonly found on the market is small, so stainless steel products made of 304 steel can be preferred.

The increase of manganese content in stainless steel reduces the corrosion resistance and rust resistance. In the production of acidic foods such as fruit juice, heavy metals, especially manganese, are easily precipitated during the cooking process.

Summary: The most common food-grade stainless steel is 304 stainless steel, but 304 stainless steel is not equal to food-grade stainless steel, it must meet the national standard GB4806.9-2016.

When we buy stainless steel cookware and tableware, remember to see if 304 stainless steel is "food grade".