Differences between industrial-grade and food-grade sodium hypochlorite
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I checked the national standards – is the difference between food-grade and industrial-grade sodium hypochlorite merely in terms of heavy metals and arsenic? ? ? What are the manufacturing processes for both? ? ? Should industrial-grade product be produced first and then filtered, or is there a completely different production process? I seek guidance from experts! ! !
The process is the same; it’s just that the pipeline and equipment materials differ.
It can only be determined through a food safety risk analysis to see if the material is suitable; it’s incorrect to simply say that different materials are not suitable. The fundamental difference between industrial-grade and food-grade products lies in the process control used in the production of food-grade items. In most cases, the equipment used can be the same for both types, but the quality control systems, approaches, and methods differ significantly, and these differences are governed by regulatory requirements. Regarding industrial grade, food grade, and pharmaceutical grade products, many people think that pharmaceutical grade products have the highest quality, but this is not the case; in terms of requirements regarding impurities, food grade products usually have the strictest standards. Why? Pharmaceutical-grade materials are eventually turned into tablets, with a specified daily dosage for patients, whereas food is not like that ； Medicines can have side effects, but foods generally cannot be tolerated to have side effects...
Maybe the standards there are quite high. Anyway, my previous workplace was like that too; it produced hydrochloric acid and sodium hypochlorite. Both chlorine and hydrogen chloride come in through the same pipe; once absorbed, they are sold as food-grade products. The catalyst (containing mercury) that we used in our own factory is being sold as industrial-grade product.
This mainly depends on how risk is perceived. For example, if your client is a multinational food company, its core asset is its brand, and every risk that could harm that brand must be controlled. Of course, whether such risks can be controlled and what the additional costs of doing so are are matters for each factory to decide on; yet there is definitely a difference between taking control and not taking any action at all.
I’m also new to this field and not quite sure how to get started learning it.