NSF Glycol for compliance in food and beverage applications

Leading temperature control specialist, ICS Cool Energy, has launched an important new development in food processing safety with the introduction of FlowCool-FS. It is a food and beverage glycol fluid that’s fully accredited by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) for use within secondary refrigeration systems, where accidental contact with food is a possibility.

The new FlowCool-FS glycol is a non-toxic mono propylene glycol (MPG) with a temperature range of -35°C to 120°C. It uses non-toxic additives designed in line with NSF and US FDA criteria. If there is any incidental direct or indirect contact with food during processing or production applications, there is minimal risk to human health.

MPG and mono ethylene glycol (MEG) are the most commonly used glycols in secondary refrigeration systems. MPG is used by food manufacturers due to its suitability for food processing as it has very low toxicity levels compared with MEG. However, MPG is often supplemented with harmful additives – a key problem that’s avoided when FlowCool-FS is used.

Brent Hall, Technical Manager at ICS Cool Energy said; “This is an important development and a new product with NSF approval that brings extra peace of mind for food and beverage manufacturers. FlowCool-FS is a high performance concentrated, multi-component MPG-based heat transfer fluid, with low oral toxicity that will help to minimise the risk of contaminated food and protect corporate reputations.

“It has been developed by a team of skilled chemists, and is independently tested and fully accredited with NSF approval, meaning that FlowCool-FS gives food and beverage manufacturers one hundred per cent confidence for use in any application where accidental contact with food is a possibility.”

“ICS Cool Energy’s new addition to the glycol range means the food and beverage industry can easily avoid the potentially toxic and harmful additives that have traditionally been used in the sector,” added Brent Hall.
“MPG has long been the go-to glycol for food manufacturers but they are often supplemented by additives which combat potentially corrosive effects on the wider cooling system.

“Unlike the organic inhibitors in FlowCool-FS, many traditional additives can be toxic to humans and damaging to systems and components. Worryingly, this fact is not always reflected in the safety data sheets. So by using the wrong additives, there’s still the threat of contamination if any incidental contact with food occurs,” he said.

FlowCool-FS is tested to ASTM D1384 test standards, mitigating any potential corrosive effects on metals commonly found within secondary refrigeration systems, while still providing high levels of heat transfer efficiency.