Food hose materials compared: NBR, EPDM, silicone, PVC and UHMWPE

A food hose has two jobs: carry the product without changing it, and survive being cleaned. The certificate settles the first in principle — every hose in this article is made from food-quality compounds. The lining material decides how well it does both in practice, because fats, oils, hot caustic, steam and time each favour a different material.

/01Five linings, five strengths.

/02Fats and oils: nitrile.

Fats and vegetable oils swell many rubbers; nitrile resists them, which is why it is the lining for dairy, edible oil and fatty food lines. Our SANF food hose carries a white food-quality NBR tube to FDA specification, a blue cloth-finish cover resistant to vegetable oils and fats, synthetic plies and twin carbon steel helices for suction, and is rated 10 bar from 3/4" to 4". The SANB brew hose is the same construction with a red cover for beverage service.

/03Heat and steam: EPDM and silicone.

EPDM shrugs off hot water and steam that would age nitrile quickly, but it swells in fats and oils, so it belongs on hot-water, washdown and steam-cleaning lines rather than on an oily product. Our A235BU hose has a white food-grade EPDM tube and is rated to +170 °C on steam and +95 °C on hot water. Silicone covers the widest range of all — our SANSIL hose runs from −40 to +200 °C, with a platinum-cured, FDA-approved smooth silicone lining, polyester fabrics and a 316L stainless helix, at a 4:1 safety factor. It is the choice where temperature swings are large or taint must be minimal.

/04Light duty: food PVC.

Food PVC hose is light, often clear so the product can be seen, and inexpensive. Our PREMVIN food and bulk hose (1/2" to 6", spring steel reinforced) and DELIKATESSE non-toxic hose (1" to 3", smooth bore) suit gravity and pump transfer of food and bulk products at modest pressure. Their limit is temperature: both are listed from −10 to +55 °C, which rules out hot cleaning and hot product.

/05Couplings and hygiene.

The joint is where hygiene usually fails: a crevice between hose and fitting holds product and defeats cleaning. Sanitary (tri-clamp) ferrules crimped onto the hose and closed with sanitary clamps give a smooth, cleanable joint; our sanitary-style crimp ferrules (1" to 4") and heavy-duty sanitary clamps (to 12") are in 304 and 316 stainless. Damage to a food hose lining condemns it faster than the same damage on a general-purpose hose — a gouge is not a strength problem at these pressures, it is a place that cannot be cleaned.