Saint-Gobain’s Versilon XFR hose achieves full FDA food contact compliance
Hoses are used in the food and beverage processing industry for a variety of loading and transfer applications. To achieve the desired performance, the hose is commonly constructed with a relatively complicated layer structure. These structures include an inner liner (in direct contact with food), one or more reinforcement layers, and an outer jacket layer (to reduce wear and tear), sometimes resulting in upwards of seven or more layers. These hoses are regulated by the FDA, as the chemicals from the food contact layer could migrate into the transferred food or beverages and pose adverse health risks.
Questioning if testing only the inner food contact layer was enough to ensure the safety of the consumer, Saint-Gobain conducted a study to test the compliance of Versilon XFR hose as a whole rather than only its food contact layer. The results of this study have been published in this white paper: Are Hoses Used for Food and Beverage Transfer Applications Really Safe for Consumers?
Launched last year, Versilon XFR is a lightweight, suction and discharge hose designed for food and beverage transfer applications. Lighter than traditional suction and discharge hoses, Versilon XFR reportedly has excellent flexibility to facilitate pump and tank attachment. The hose is compatible with many food product types, including dairy.
All Versilon XFR’s layers have been approved as FDA compliant: its inner bromobutyl rubber tube, which reduces the risk of flavour contamination, its reinforcement layer, and its smooth, convoluted blue hose cover, which is abrasion, ozone, aging, oil and chemical resistant. Additionally, Saint-Gobain says the outer cover’s wide corrugated, low friction material is easy to clean and leaves no marks when dragged on the floor. Versilon XFR hose assemblies conform to the 3-A Sanitary Standard 62-02. To further ensure strict hygienic standards, Versilon XFR can be cleaned via CIP or SIP methods.
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