Is polyamide food safe?
I got a nylon bag which is marked 'PA' in the label, which I think is polyamide.
I plan to use it for mashing barley grains in homebrewing ( 62C to 78C, PH ~ 5, 90 minutes ).
The bag is black and was originally intended for washing clothes.
Is it food safe in this setting?
Will it leach chemicals?
Best Answer
Pure polyamide is foodsafe at these temperatures, they make pan spatulas out of them, which are safe to about 200 Celsius.
The problem is that we cannot know if your bag is 100% pure polyamide. It could be that the coloring is not food safe, or that it was contaminated with something inedible during production. So nobody can promise you that a nylon bag from unknown origin is food safe.
Products meant to be used in the home are unlikely to be produced where they can come in contact with extreme irritants. So you can decide to take the risk as one more potential environmental pollution, and go with it. Or you can think that it's not worth it, and look for other bags. In any case, there is no indication that the main material (nylon) will cause any trouble.
Pictures about "Is polyamide food safe?"
Quick Answer about "Is polyamide food safe?"
The toxic components are oligomers, composed of simple plastic building blocks and are unintentionally created in plastic production. The BfR recommends keeping the contact time with hot foods (above 70 °C) short when using polyamide (PA) kitchen utensils, but does not advise to refrain from their use in general.Is polyamide safe to use?
Is polyamide considered to be harmful? In use for many years and used for commonplace items that come into contact with the skin (such as stockings and tights), there is no evidence that this fibre is harmful.Is nylon safe to eat from?
Nylon Utensils Leaching Chemicals A subtler and longer-term concern with any plastic used for food contact is its potential to leach chemicals into foods. One such chemical is diaminodiphenylmethane, usually abbreviated as DDM (because that's a mouthful even for chemists).What is food grade nylon?
Nylon Type 6, Oil Filled Food Grade They add FDA compliance for applications where food contact is possible. Food packing and process equipment users can now benefit from the wear resistance, toughness and low coefficient of friction of these nylon materials.What are polyamide used for?
Polyamide Resin Uses Polyamide is common in textiles like clothing and carpets. It also often features in the production of items that require both strength and flexibility, including fishing line, electrical connectors, gears, guitar picks and strings and medical implants.Are Melamine Dishes and Polyamide Plastic Utensils Safe?
More answers regarding is polyamide food safe?
Answer 2
Here is a link to the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations website regarding POLYMERS. They have done a lot of testing according to the documentation provided on this page, but you will need to match specs against the table they provide, to know for sure.
Another suggestion, Submerge the bag in a very deep vessel with some purified water overnight, then test the water for changes using a water test kit, there are different brands, here is a link to a website that allow you to order one online.
Answer 3
The leached chemicals will not be shown in a standard test like the one you suggested. In this https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/ test they used i.e. water that had been in contact with the plastics and put it on living cells to see if they got screwed up. The problem is with plastics that all of time they leach but you don't know what chemicals could be toxic, (see the study that I linked to)
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Laura James, Michael Burrows, Michael Burrows, Michael Burrows