All over the world, food standards agencies (such as the FSA in the UK) legislate that the plastics used in the production of food packaging must be much purer than those used in non-food packaging products. These compounds are collectively termed ‘food grade plastic’ and only those plastics used in pharmaceutical packaging have to meet more stringent standards.

So what constitutes food grade plastic? One of the key criteria is that it must not contain any industrial dyes or recycled plastic that could be harmful to humans. However, this doesn’t totally preclude food grade plastic from containing any recycled plastic at all and, because of this, there are detailed regulations concerning its use in food packaging. Since the majority of plastics these days tend to be recycled in one way or another, the compound can be derived from a variety of sources, old wheely bins, dangerous chemical containers etc and so this must be monitored carefully.

Another criteria paramount in the production of plastic food containers is to ideally match the appropriate type of plastic to the food that will be transported in them. If any of the food that might be packaged in these plastic buckets contain high proportions of acid, alcohol or certain fats, it’s very possible they could leach the plastic additives from the container back into the food. Consequently, there are guidelines regarding which plastic containers are approved for the specific kind of food they will be holding. » Read more: What Is ‘Food Grade’ Plastic?